Setting up new refugium in established tank.

[serenitynow]

Hi all,

My 38gal (50g total) tank has been up and very healthy for 10 months. I have about 30lbs of live rock, several corals (SPS and softies), cleaner shrimp and two clowns. I will be getting more corals and 2-3 more fish.

I have room in my sump for a refugium but never stocked it.
I have learned the benefits of it so I am thinking about stocking it.

My tank is looking very nice and I don't want to mess anything up. How should I go about stocking it? Should I stay away from live rock from LFS (recommended by a few articles)? Can I add miracle mud or live sand? I think I am safe putting Chaeto in.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[brynbyers]

My tank had been established for a few years and I wanted to add a refugium. Just added a separate container above my sump with miracle mud and chaeto, hung a light above it on an opposite timer from the main display and fed with a low flow powerhead...have had no problems.

 

[dawgface]

I added a refug to my established 72 4 months after setup. I simply put LS in a 5 gallon bucket. I used a small pump to fill the bucket and gravity fed it back to the sump. After a week or so I added cheato, worked great... Pods are growing like crazy!

 

[ramses66]

DawgFace;636368 wrote: I added a refug to my established 72 4 months after setup. I simply put LS in a 5 gallon bucket. I used a small pump to fill the bucket and gravity fed it back to the sump. After a week or so I added cheato, worked great... Pods are growing like crazy!

What type light did you use?

Thanks

 

[dawgface]

One of these with a grow light from home depot.

 

[ichthyoid]

+1 ^
They work great. I use a 6500K daylight 'spring type' flourescent bulb.

FWIW- I feed the pods with a little flake sprinkled over the chaeto, then turn off the light. In 20 minutes you can turn it back on and see them all over the place!

 

[serenitynow]

Well I added about 6 cups of live sand to the fuge area in my sump and then turned on the pumps. The tank became immediately cloudy; like skim milk. After about 2 hours it was crystal clear again and everything went back to normal as if nothing happened, except for a slight white film on my flow pumps and back glass which a scrapper will remedy. Filter sock, skimmer, GFO/carbon reactor and filter fiber worked well to clear it up.