Building My First Refugium, Please Answer Some Questions

crzyfshygy

crzyfshygy

Member
My tank is 3 months old and is a 65gl reef. I have a sump on it now and want to build a refugium.
1) Can I still run Carbon and Filter pad(I still want to)?
2) If my refugium is bigger than my sump, will I need a different pump(mag 500 now)
3) What kind of substrate is the best for it?
4) What kind of lighting system do I want to have for the best outcome?
5) What kind of Plants/alge do I need(there are so many different types)?
6) Should I put snails in there and Hermits?
7) My tank is 100% matured, will this new refugium mess with my biological fitration?
(My live rock is well established and used 120lds of LS)
I really want to do this right so your experience will really help. Thank You
 
thegrog

thegrog

Active Member
Originally Posted by crzyfshygy
My tank is 3 months old and is a 65gl reef. I have a sump on it now and want to build a refugium.
1) Can I still run Carbon and Filter pad(I still want to)?
2) If my refugium is bigger than my sump, will I need a different pump(mag 500 now)
3) What kind of substrate is the best for it?
4) What kind of lighting system do I want to have for the best outcome?
5) What kind of Plants/alge do I need(there are so many different types)?
6) Should I put snails in there and Hermits?
7) My tank is 100% matured, will this new refugium mess with my biological fitration?
(My live rock is well established and used 120lds of LS)
I really want to do this right so your experience will really help. Thank You
OK, here are my opinions:
1. Yes. I always run a carbon filter on my systems. Just be sure to change every 7-10 days
2. If the fuge is running into the sump, you will need a bigger pump for the added water flow.
3. Aragonite sand.
4. PC usually works best.
5. Go with gracillaria algae and mangroves, but which ones to use is personal preference
6. Yes on both. Be sure there is plenty of LR in there as well.
7. As long as you don't put in uncured LR in your refugium, shouldn't harm anything. In fact, just put dry sand in the new fuge and seed it with some LS from your main system. Monitor your parameters anyway daily for a few weeks.
Hope this helps!
 
crzyfshygy

crzyfshygy

Member
Thanks, My mag 500 is doing probably 350gph due to head height. Someone said that the pump used in the fuge should be real slow, and Powerheads should create the flow. Is that true?
 
squidd

squidd

Active Member
Yes and No...
Flow thru fuge should be "relatively" slow (compared to sump and Main Tank..)
Shouldn't need "any" pump/powerheads in fuge if you gravity drain feed from main tank and then gravity drain from fuge to return pump chamber of sump...
 
squidd

squidd

Active Member
You could, but generally it's beter to "baffle off" the return pump from the rest of the sump ...so it get's bubble free water to return to tank...
 
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