canister vs refugium?

saltcrazy

saltcrazy

New Member
:happyfish Hi all! I'm not really new to salt water (used to have a 20 gallon show about 15 years ago), but I was not having terrific success then with the methods I was using (basically just LR and CC and 1 shrimp, and a dwarf lionfish. Now I'm trying to get back in the picture and wow has everything changed. For starters I have a 55 gallon, red prizm skimmer, emperor 400 biowheel filter, and 2 maxijet power heads, and CC. I also have been using RO/DI for awhile. It seems now that CC is bad and can trap unwanted wastes? But doesn't the DSB also trap wastes? Ok so the CC is going going gone to be replaced with argonite sand (by the way-my salt books say stay clear of play sand) has anyone had long term success with it IE yardright I think is one. I'm in the process of building my stand/canopy so any help would be appreciated!!! Ok so my plan is to build the stand/canopy buy metal halide and vho combo unit with 3-4" fans on both side of the canopy (can I buy the fans from Radio Shack or does the wiring differ for water?) Now, after this I will purchase lots of LR according to what my books say I need. Now for the part that keeps stumping me- what type of filtration. I've read that I can get away with a canister filter if I keep cleaning 2x/week. I have 2 small kids and this keeps me running so what is this refugium setup and is this more or less maintenance than a canister? I would like to purchase a uv sterilizer in the future so where does this go if I have a canister filter? My tank is not drilled-can I make a refugium without drilling? Lastly is there a great book offering detailed setup help for refugiums? :help:
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
Welcome back to the hobby. First off, everything that you are setting your tank up with sounds good. I am glad that you are not using CC and you are switching to aragonite. I have used aragonite on all of my tanks and never have had any problems. It is mich easier to keep clean than sand but doesn't trap stuff like CC.
As for the canopy and stand, I cannot help you there. Sorry....
The light hood that you are planning sounds good, and you can buy the fans at RadioShack with no problems.
Lastly, if you want less maintenance, go with the refugium. Your tank does not need to be drilled to have a refugium. You can run an overflow box on your tank and have a refugium sit under your tank. The purpose of the refugium is that you fill it with plants, rubble rock, and a substrate and the plants, due to the light that they must be provided, absorb nitrates and export them from the aquarium. You do not want a cannister filter. You have the emporer 400 and the 2 powerheads, so you do not need the cannister. You need the refuge for nitrate export. The way you will run it is with the overflow box draining water to the refugium under the tank through gravity, and then in the refugium, there will be a pump that pumps water back up to the tank. I do not know of any books that go into detail about setting up a fuge, but I can help you with any questions that you may have.
Also, save your money on a UV sterilizer. Put all of that money that you were going to spend on a UV into your refuge. Get a 20 gallon refuge, a good power compact light hood, an adequate pump to send water back up to the tank, an overflow box, plumbing, and the rock/plants/aragonite that you need to fill it.
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
here is a pic of my refuge.. it is an early pic and it is much more filled now, but you get the idea of how it should be. My fuge is a 15 gallon filled with 15 lbs. of rubble live rock, chaetomorpha alae, along with red kelp, feather caulerpa, and halimedia. The light is a single-strip 65 watt light fixture, which gives me 4.5 watts per gallon of light.
 
mikeyjer

mikeyjer

Active Member
Originally Posted by lion_crazz
here is a pic of my refuge.. it is an early pic and it is much more filled now, but you get the idea of how it should be. My fuge is a 15 gallon filled with 15 lbs. of rubble live rock, chaetomorpha alae, along with red kelp, feather caulerpa, and halimedia. The light is a single-strip 65 watt light fixture, which gives me 4.5 watts per gallon of light.
I would like to learn about the fuge system. We're thinking about either getting a 125 or a 150 gallon tank, what would be the proper size fuge? I don't want anything oversized cause I want it to fit underneath the stand. What you mean by plumbing? I have read in other sites but it doesn't really tell you how to set it up. I have also heard about pumping the water from the protein skimmer into the refuge would be better cleaner water, would that be mainly for sump? Doing the pump back into the tank I know how to do. Is there anyway I can get it in detail about how to set one up? E-mail me the process if possible... Mikeyjer@comcast.net Thanks!!! :happyfish
 
rainfishy

rainfishy

Member
Hey -I've been ding research on this issue - refugiums. There is so much info on this site!! First place i wuld start is DIY Plumbing 101 under archieves. It's like 16 pages about plumbing for sump/fuge, closed loop, etc. HTH
 
mudplayerx

mudplayerx

Active Member
Sorry this is so short, but I'm going to bed in 5 mins and I've had 4 beers

Get rid of your crushed coral and replace it with aragonite sand. The crushed coral can result in water parameter problems. I'm pretty sure that someone JUST wrote a guide to switching substrate and he/she'd appreciate it if you gave it a look.
Don;t forget to get a cleanup crew. You need about 1 cleaner hermit crab per 2 gallons of water. You also need snails. I recommend mexican turbo snails at a ratio of 1 per 15-20 gallons of water. Good luck and welcome back to the hobby. I'm going to bed lol.
 
sundance1

sundance1

Member
I don't understand,how will an overflow work on gravity withoul drilling the tank?If the overflow in IN the tank and at water level,how does the water get out of the tank.Not trying to be stupid,but can't help it sometimes :help:
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
You can buy a hang-on-the back overflow box. They are cheap and work fairly well if you do not have a drilled tank.
 
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