Refugium

[brandonvd]

I currently have an 80 gallon bow front tank with a 15 gallon sump. The sump consits of two different size filters then the water flows over a big biowheel. I also have a Turbofloator 1000 protien skimmer in the sump. After the water is treated it is then returned to the tank. I currently have a few fish, a couple of anenomees, a fungia coral, a brain coral, a small leather coral, 2 shrimps, and some misc. crabs and snails. I plan on adding more soft corals and at some point adding some stony corals.
Now what I was wondering is if I bought or built a 30 gallon refugium could I replace my sump with it. I don't know if I really understand rufugiums, but I think that they are just a natural way to treat the water. I might be wrong and any clarification is helpful. I also wanted to know if I replaced my sump with a refugium would I still need a protien skimmer or would it just be the refugium. I appreciate any help you can give me.
Brandon

 

[rabid frog]

I just switched from a wet/dry (sump) to a refugium so maybe I can help you a bit. The refugium I have consists of 3 different chambers. 1rst chamber is where the water comes from the over flow. This chamber came with bio balls which I left in because they are submerged under water and wont have a big impact on nitrates. I was also told this would be a good breeding ground for pods. The next chamber is where the mudd and the algae are. The water from here flows through some baffles and into another chamber where my protein skimmer and return pump are.
Refugiums treat the water with the help of the macro algaes that you grow in them. The macro algaes out compete the nuissance algaes for nutrients. Thus, keeping hair algae out of your tank. I still believe you need to run a skimmer on your tank with an addition of a refugium. The area where my mudd is looks like a nano tank with miracle mud on the bottom. I put about a half of an inch of sand over the mudd to keep it in place. From there I put lr rubble along with some macro algaes. The refugium has a grow light on top of it. I purchased this whole set-up for about 300 bucks with the mudd and the light. It probably could have been built for much cheaper but I am not that handy with building stuff.
Do a search in the DYI forums on how to build refuguims and you will find a lot of information on that subject.
I know its kind of long and I hope I explained it well enough for you.

 

[brandonvd]

Rapid Frog
Thank you for the help. Your explanation was exactly what I was looking for. What you have is basically what I was figuring on putting in, but I just wasn't sure if I could completely remove my sump or not.
I do have another question though. Can I just put together a refugium one day and just swap it out for my sump or do I need to grow the macro algae in it for a while first?
Brandon

 

[nikibunny]

I really do not know the total answer to your question.... You do not need to have macro algae in your fuge right off the bat, but I dont know about swapping a fuge for a sump with out any adverse effects on your tank.
Do you have any critters in your tank. If it was an empty tank and not one that was already established it would be no problem to just swap them out. Or it the tank in lightly stocked. But I would set up the fuge and make sure you have a good dsb on the fuge, with some lr rubble in there. Then you can slowly start adding the macro algaes as you please. Maybe you can have someone babysit your tank while your new fuge gets established.

 

[nikibunny]

oops just realized i was on my wifes account. This is Rabid Frog.

 

[brandonvd]

Since my sump just has a couple of filters and a bio-wheel could I just construct a fuge to hold these items? Then the water would still be being treated in basically the same way that it is now while allowing the different oraganisims to grow, right? Once the organisims are growing well in the fuge I could then take out the bio-wheel and filters? I don't know if I'm on the right track or not, but it seems logical to me.
Brandon

 

[nikibunny]

ya you could do that. I would take them out 1 at a time though. You could take out a filter wait a week, then take out another. etc.....