Does a refugium help with water quality?

[patrick33]

I started a 46 galon fowlr tank recently. i have about 40 lbs of LS, and only 25Llbs of LR (will put in about 25 more soon) I havent put the fish in yet, mostly because I havent put in a skimmer. I do not know if I have to wait to put the skimmer in or can I just go ahead and put a couple in, for now at least?
I am building a sump underneath my tank, to attach a skimmer and to help with water quality ( a 10g with a couple of baffles, using a DIY kit i read on internet) oh yeah i am using a 404 fluval cannister filter.
a rep at the LFS said that i would not need a skimmer if I had a refugium. So i dont know if I should just skip the skimmer? make a refugium/sump or just to skip the sump and go with a refugium all together? thank you in advance for all your help

 

[bang guy]

IMO an algae filled refugium is less valuable than a good skimmer. They are not mutually exclusive though. I think they are both beneficial and the skimmer gives a lot of wiggle room for mistakes.

 

[beaslbob]

I have never used a skimmer. reason is the price and maintenence. The extra $150 or so I would rater buy a larger tank to begin with.
Yes a refugium can help your system. But a bare lifeless refigium would do little for the water quality. With sand and pods then you would have A source of pods. But with plant life the water quality improves dramatically regardless of skimmers or input water.
Bottom line it is the plant life in the refugium that improves the water quality.

 

[patrick33]

Thank you. I was leaning towards doing the sump and refugium separately and adding a skimmer to the sump. i think I am going to do it, just have to figure out how to do the plumbing in the small space I have. thanks again.

 

[jedininja]

Bob, why do you always have to go there? As much as plantlife helps, dont tell a newbie that he doesnt need a skimmer. You may be able to have a sucessful tank with your plants but not everyone can. A skimmer does a lot of good and removes nutrients out of the water even before your plants has the time to consume the same nutrients. But why not use both? I have both macro and a skimmer in my sump/fuge. the skimmer sucks out a lot of the nutrients before it turns to nitrates. The plants then consume some of the leftover nutrients and they use up the nitrates.
Why dont you go out and test your method to see if it really is better than a skimmer? How about do a little science experiment. Take a few gallons of the water from your tank, and put them in 2 different buckets. put plants in one and a skimmer in the other. Then test the results after a few days. Do that and then maybe you can tell somebody not to use a skimmer.

 

[beckzilla]

jedininja, you are so right. It just kills me when the Plantman from Alcatraz steers people the wrong way. Hey beasl, plants are not the only answer to all of your problems.

 

[kingsman39]

It’s funny… I think Bob says some of the things he says for the attention. I’m a newbie, so I take all the advice I read here with the proverbial grain of salt. I suggest everyone do the same and come up with their own solutions. If a new hobbyist doesn’t use common sense and blindly follow any one person, he is likely doomed to catastrophe anyway. There… Bob, I sort of stood up for you.

 

[patrick33]

Although I am very new to the hobby, I did take that advice to do without a skimmer with a "grain of salt". Anytime someone tells me to get rid of something because the other components should compensate for it, I think, "that might be true for him but not for me, and definetly not now, so soon after starting this tank" so I decided to get the skimmer and if space allows to do the sump and refugium separately. If not i might try to do a combination one.
thanks for your help....it saves a lot of fishes from the hands of the unwitting mass fish murderer, aka the newbie ;p

 

[phil1964]

uh oh:thinking:

 

[phil1964]

I go both ways.
I mean I can go both ways.
No.
What I mean is I can't believe the stanky stuff a skimmer gets out.
It has to do good.
Also I 'believe' a fuge w/ plants does help.
I say 'believe' because I do not have one but am planning one over the holiday break.
Hope bob is right.
I 'believe' :yes:

 

[seaguru]

Great that you have not added fish yet...
I suggest you go ahead and add all your live rock and inverts, etc. and let them settle in for another 4-6 weeks to let any possbile parasite introduction (YES! all of you out there shaking your head... ICH can be introduced in the tomant stage while it is adhered to live rock or anything else and when it completes its incubation period... hundreds of newbie free swimming guys will be all over your water looking for a host i.e. fish to start the cycle all over again...)
BETH AND TERRY B. don't worry I have not started my own personal crusade here lately... I've just kept quiet too long!
While your main tank is going thru this Quarantine that most people care not to do... proceed to setup up a separate Quarantine system for your new fish you intend to add and conduct "Hyposalinity" on them. (Read all you can in the disease forum)...
Your Q system does not need to be fancy or expensive... again do some reading about Q and H.
You will NEVER regret doing it the RIGHT way even tho it is a pain compared to the quick and easy that most poeple opt for!
Good Luck.

 

[patrick33]

Thank you