Waterfall Algae Scrubber on the way - What to do with current refugium?

Coach v

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 7, 2016
Messages
143
Reaction score
71
Location
Northern California
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I have a 120 gallon DT with a 40 breeder sump and a 29 gallon refugium. I am battling GHA and have decided to put in place an IceCap algae scrubber Pro Medium. I have been wanting an ATS for a while and picked this used one on a decent deal.

My question is what do I do with my current refugium? It is in the basement with the sump. It has its own pump and is currently lit with a 30 watt led. It grew cheato at one point, but now only grows hair/slime algae along the water surface and on glass and overflow. It has sand and some rock. with a few airstones to give in tank flow.

Do I keep this refugium, ditching the light, get rid of it all together, or do I do something else with it?
 

fishyjoes

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 10, 2022
Messages
270
Reaction score
319
Location
US
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I'm getting to the point where I feel like I have too much equipment going on. If you feel the same it might be nice to take it down and simplify the system a little bit.
 

KrisReef

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
May 15, 2018
Messages
12,291
Reaction score
28,260
Location
ADX Florence
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Why have an algae scrubber if you have a refugium?
Yup.
I think I would put the waterfall on line and once it gets growing I would repurpose the fuge for either a cryptic zone or a frag grow out so you can share fragments with other reefers.

The refuge is also a better place for keeping pods multiplying so I don’t think I would shut it down unless it is just a funky mess that requires a lot of maintenance that would be better spent elsewhere?
 

JHSteepat

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 2, 2023
Messages
200
Reaction score
126
Location
Pittsburgh
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
It wouldn’t hurt to keep it! I don’t use either but have in the past.. id at least keep it till the ats is doing its job and the chateo starts to die off..
I made the mistake of cleaning out the refugium before the ats was established. Now the ats is struggling to get established vs the display. Not sure what would have happened if I kept the refugium active until the ats established, but should have tried that.
 

Managing real reef risks: Do you pay attention to the dangers in your tank?

  • I pay a lot of attention to reef risks.

    Votes: 142 43.0%
  • I pay a bit of attention to reef risks.

    Votes: 117 35.5%
  • I pay minimal attention to reef risks.

    Votes: 50 15.2%
  • I pay no attention to reef risks.

    Votes: 16 4.8%
  • Other.

    Votes: 5 1.5%
Back
Top