Refugium start-up

[kuyales]

ok i have a tank ready a return pump ready and a diy overflow made from pvc pipes....now my question is how do i start my refugium?? should i start with lr and ls coctail shrimp, let cycle then attach overflow pipes and pumP? how do i start this bad boy up? should i use some water i take out when i do a water change on my nano reef?? (btw my nano is 10gal and the refug is going to be a 10 gal)

 

[jonthefb]

what i did recently when setting up a refugium for a 135 that we hadnt had yet, was that i set up the refugium on a separate tank to get it cycled and going, so that when we eventually set the 135 up it would be pre cycled and would be ready to begin filtering. I dont know if you could do this in your case, but it worked great for us!

 

[nm reef]

My refugium is in 2 stages....first stage was 30 gal and I set it up with established LS and Natures ocean....all I did was bring the SG & temp to same as the display...then linked them up. Was not a problem at all. My display was very stable/mature and there was no mini cycle or spikes in any level. Did the same process when I added the second stage( approx 20 gal) again with no problems. My display has a relatively low bio-load and was more than enough to accept the additional "new" water volume.I really see no need to "cycle" the added water from the refugium if the main system is mature and stable....as long as it is not a massive addition of fresh water volume.