Refugium-What?Why?How?When?

[physcoben]

Hello everyone my name is Ben and I have a 90 gal reef, w/ a bunch of cool fish, about 90lbs of lr, 3 inch ls, and a few other criters. I've been told that a sump set up used as a refugium would be extremely benificial in helping me get rid of all my excess nutrients in my water. I am using RO water but i think my bio load is just too high. As a result to much algae(hair, green, brown, in that order) and not enough coraline. Well I was hoping that someone could redirect me to a site with all the info I might need on setting up a sump/refugium. Thanks Guys, always a pleasure!!!

 

[surfnturf]

A sump with a refugium is a great way to go. There are some things you can do with your main tank to improve your nutrient levels. First, I would recommend adding a dusting of sand to your tank every day or so to bring the sand bed up to a total of 4-5 inches. Second, you didn't mention if you had a skimmer or not, if you don't I would get a decent one. If you are getting a lot of nuisance algae and little to no growth of corraline, you probably don't have enough light on the tank, you don't have to go nuts if it is to be a FOWLR, 2-3 watts per gallon would be real good. Also check your calcium levels, corraline needs this to grow properly. HTH