Refugium Idea

[lsu_fishfan]

So I've been thinking about setting up a refugium, but not in my sump. My idea is to have a separate tank that I will use as a refugium to grow algae in. I would probably have a couple small fish and inverts. Will normal filtration such as a skimmer be ok to use on the tank. Has anyone else ever heard of someone doing this or have done this themselves?

 

[bcavalli]

Yup, I have a 30 gallon breeder I sectioned off with a Chaeto chamber, main refugium area with live rock, a dotty back, cuc and about 10 red mangroves. It then dumps into an overflow chamber holding a thermometer and drains by gravity into the return section of my 30 gallon sump.

 

[lsu_fishfan]

Bcavalli;965926 wrote: Yup, I have a 30 gallon breeder I sectioned off with a Chaeto chamber, main refugium area with live rock, a dotty back, cuc and about 10 red mangroves. It then dumps into an overflow chamber holding a thermometer and drains by gravity into the return section of my 30 gallon sump.

I was thinking completely separate. No connection to the main tank.

 

[nickg]

Please don't take this wrong... What would the point be, if it is not attached to the main system? It is now just another setup, with micro in the DT. And with only a couple of fish, no skimmer would be needed.

 

[lsu_fishfan]

nickg;965935 wrote: Please don't take this wrong... What would the point be, if it is not attached to the main system? It is now just another setup, with micro in the DT. And with only a couple of fish, no skimmer would be needed.

Well, you can safely grow algae without having the risk of it turning invasive and taking over the whole tank.

 

[vetshep]

Most people use the algae & mangroves in the sump as a way to pull out the extra phosphates and nitrates that build up from bioload in the display tank. Used in this way it is meant to be part of the main tank's filtration system in addition to your skimmer. The extra live rock also provides additional biologic filtration without cluttering up your display tank so much. I think that is why nickg was confused.

 

[nickg]

Yeah, the question was what are you going to use the algae for? Normally it is used for removal of unwanted trace elements.

 

[lsu_fishfan]

nickg;965965 wrote: Yeah, the question was what are you going to use the algae for? Normally it is used for removal of unwanted trace elements.

I was thinking about more of the decorative algae.

 

[vetshep]

That would be cool - almost like a planted tank that so many freshwater people do. I just don't think it is called a refugium anymore. You could look up planted tanks - most of what you'll find are very green freshwater tanks but after a quick Google search I found several images for saltwater planted tanks. I bet if it did well, you'll need to harvest algae pretty regularly and could sell it for a bit of payback. Have fun!

 

[lsu_fishfan]

vetshep;966009 wrote: That would be cool - almost like a planted tank that so many freshwater people do. I just don't think it is called a refugium anymore. You could look up planted tanks - most of what you'll find are very green freshwater tanks but after a quick Google search I found several images for saltwater planted tanks. I bet if it did well, you'll need to harvest algae pretty regularly and could sell it for a bit of payback. Have fun!

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/234487-the-marine-planted-tank-macro-algae-thread/">http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/234487-the-marine-planted-tank-macro-algae-thread/</a>[/QUOTE]

Ok I didn't think of it as a planted tank, the only thing that popped into my mind was algae growth tank = refugium.

 

[jc_k]

Lol. Basically you want a algae display aquarium.