Trying to Get Back in - Refugium Help

[Jmunk]

Long story short, after some unsightly changes in the tank, I've been mostly disinterested and out of the hobby for the past few years. My first step back is I want a refugium up and running. I've tried once before, but the chaeto just disintegrated and never got going at all (I was using a cheap home depot light).

I thought that maybe it needed a more dedicated spot in the sump. So I'm thinking about partitioning off a section with eggcrates or something similar. But after 8 years of a reef tank, I just have a good 2 inches of soot/debris in the sump. Do we all vacuum this out? Do you guys clean this? At this point, is it dangerous to clean and rid something like this?

 

[Knucker]

Definitely clean that sump out.

 

[Jmunk]

Definitely clean that sump out.

Think so? Don't think that might cause any issues?

 

[Lavey29]

Some people keep their sumps spotless others just let it do it's thing. My sump looks like a swamp especially the fuge section. There are pros and cons for either clean sump or swamp sump.

 

[dedragon]

I would be afraid of kicking anything up into the water column. If you want to clean it out i would just turn off the pumps and pull out any large equipment and then use a wet/dry vacuum to remove all water and debris.

I use these in my refugium section to keep chaeto out of other sections. They can just be cut to fit anywhere. probably other brands as well that are cheaper and will do the same thing
https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petco...-green-progressive-filter-media-1554476?gQT=2

 

[exnisstech]

I never clean a sump. Well I did clean one. I broke down a tank that had been running 7-8 years and scooped all the nastiness out and dumped it in my brand new sump. That crud is full of life. I ran chaeto fuges in the past but am running a cryptic fuge with an algae scrubber on my newest tank.
This is where all the crud from the old sump went

 

[Lavey29]

I never clean a sump. Well I did clean one. I broke down a tank that had been running 7-8 years and scooped all the nastiness out and dumped it in my brand new sump. That crud is full of life. I ran chaeto fuges in the past but am running a cryptic fuge with an algae scrubber on my newest tank.
This is where all the crud from the old sump went

I like it. No skimmer huh?

 

[exnisstech]

I like it. No skimmer huh?

Funny you ask. I ran for months (since start up) without one as that was my plan but my PO4 got a little higher than I like so I add a skimmer that I had laying around only to find out the timer on my ATS lights had failed so it wasn't working. I fixed that but went ahead and left the skimmer running. 2 days ago the skimmer overflowed and the tank was flooded with nastiness and small particles clouding the water. Corals immediately went into feed mode. These zoas have never looked this good

A few minutes later my rock flower nems started spawning



Needless to say I'm not planning to put the skimmer back online anytime soon.

 

[Jmunk]

I would be afraid of kicking anything up into the water column. If you want to clean it out i would just turn off the pumps and pull out any large equipment and then use a wet/dry vacuum to remove all water and debris.

I use these in my refugium section to keep chaeto out of other sections. They can just be cut to fit anywhere. probably other brands as well that are cheaper and will do the same thing
https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petco...-green-progressive-filter-media-1554476?gQT=2

That's exactly what my plan would've been if I did decide to go the route of cleaning it all out. I might just end up not doing that, and sticking the chateo on top of the soot. Could even maybe make a section with mud or something on top.

That particle divider is exactly the kind of idea I was looking for to section it off. Thank you.

Now I just gotta figure out exactly why my last two chaeto attempts failed (it wasn't due to a lack of nutrients lol). What kind of light do you use?

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Think so? Don't think that might cause any issues?

This is my sump on my 90 I wouldn't worry about cleaning it.

 

[dedragon]

Now I just gotta figure out exactly why my last two chaeto attempts failed (it wasn't due to a lack of nutrients lol). What kind of light do you use?

i use a ge br30 led grow bulb but pretty much all led grow lights will work. Im using this lower powered bulb because my chaeto was growing too fast before. I've also used a bunch of different led grow lights and they worked well but the only ones i didnt like were the purple grow lights. They worked ok but didnt grow chaeto quite as fast (could have just been mine) and were stressful on the eyes to look at

 

[dedragon]

it will also depend on the size of ur fuge so look around to find a good deal. I use the ge br38 for my monsteras and they work great but are more powerful. I wouldnt use a panel led with like samsung lm301b/h for a small fuge though. They are overkill and can easily scorch chaeto