Refugium questions

[alm502]

I will soon be setting up a refugium for my 210-gal system. The fuge will be a 20-gal tank that will take unfiltered tank output water, pass it through Chaetomorpha at a pretty decent flow (enough to tumble the Chaetomorpha) and then spill out to the sump right at the return pumps. I will have about a 2" sand bed below the macroalgae. The light will be a Coralife 130W with 50/50 bulbs.
At the same time as some water goes through the fuge, the rest of the tank output water will flow through my pre-filter/protein skimmer/sump system (55-gal long tank with 25 gallons in the sump) in parallel to the refugium. So, part of the water will go through the fuge while a larger volume goes through the sump.
Both the sump and fuge will be fed from both overflows, so the filtering across will be balanced.
I know the fuge is bit small for a 210-system, but that is all I have room for and it has to go in the basement over the sump instead of upstairs with the main tank. So this is the best compromise I could come up with.
My main question is if there are any recommendations on where I can buy the microfauna to jump start the 'pod population in the fuge?
And since I am at it, I have a few other questions:
- Is this too much light for this type of fuge?
- Is a 2" sandbed either too much or too little for the fuge?
- Should I plan to add a few snail and crabs to the fuge tank as a cleaner crew? Or is one needed?
- If the purpose of the fuge is nutrient export and pod production for food, should I ever vacuum the sand in the fuge or just occassionally harvest out some Chaetomorpha?
Tnx,
Rick

 

[weberian]

You could try garf grunge (web search) to jump start it. No personal experience with it myself, but it looks fantastic.

 

[bob a.]

I'm growing cheato just fine under an 18w flourescent flood that is on 24/7. I think you will have too much light otherwise. I did add some critters down there, figure its gotta help with the bits of uneaten food and other stuff that will make their way down in there. I have no plans to stir up the sand, though you do need to harvest out the chaeto from time to time. When I seeded my new sump from the old one, I picked up some of the pods along with the algae. You can buy pods in a bottle, but I think they are hitchhikers like everything else and they might already be in there cept you dont see em.

 

[lion_crazz]

Originally Posted by alm502
My main question is if there are any recommendations on where I can buy the microfauna to jump start the 'pod population in the fuge?
And since I am at it, I have a few other questions:
- Is this too much light for this type of fuge?
- Is a 2" sandbed either too much or too little for the fuge?
- Should I plan to add a few snail and crabs to the fuge tank as a cleaner crew? Or is one needed?
- If the purpose of the fuge is nutrient export and pod production for food, should I ever vacuum the sand in the fuge or just occassionally harvest out some Chaetomorpha?
Tnx,
Rick
Wow, you are setting up the identical fuge on your 210 that I have on mine. Mine is a 15 gallon however. Right now, I am running a 65 watt light fixture. I have chaeto in mine also, and the way you are setting up yours with your sump and fuge is the same way I have my system set-up as well. It works excellently! My tank stays very clean.
As to your first question, I can give you the website where you can buy a bottle of pods very cheaply. It is an excellent and reliable website. My email is Ry84@MSN.com.
I don't think you have too much light for your fuge. Your 130 watt fixture is running about 6.5 watts per gallon, whereas my fuge is 4.25. My chaeto and caulerpa grows very well, so I would imagine yours will as well.
The 2" sandbed sounds like it is fine. Mine is about 2 to 3 inches.
In my fuge, I have 2 snails, a cowry, and a handful of hermit crabs.
And as to your last question, I would not recommend vacuuming your fuge. You do not want to mess with the sand bed much at all, as you can leave this up to your clean-up crew. You will have to harvest it out from time to time though.