refugium / Sump tank let’s spark an ongoing discussion

[DJC]

I forgot to mention I have not done a water change in 2 years

No water change in 2years how is this even possible ? Amazing

 

[DJC]

No skimmer? What are your nutrients and display size? Man I am really turning towards setting up an algae scrubber...

What’s an algae scrubber ?

 

[VintageReefer]

What’s an algae scrubber ?

It’s a stronger more efficient version of a chaeto refugium

Basically to explain mine, it is a floating box in my sump. The lid has 1000 par of red led. The inside is lined with rocky sharp lining and string for algae to grow on. Air is pumped in from a dual outlet air pump.

Naturally over the first few weeks cells in the water pass through this environment which is ideal for algae growth. The cells turn into slime. The slime then turns into what’s called turf algae. Turf algae is at least 5x more efficient at pulling nutrients from water compared to chaeto

The air pump provides oxygen for the algae and also acts as a water pump, pushing water in and out of the unit.

Once every 10-15 days I pull out a handful of algae and toss it. But if you have algae eating fish you can use it as food

I used to have my entire refugium devoted to growing chaeto. And I grew it good! But it had no impact on my numbers and had no impact on my hair algae in my display. I added the scrubber unit. In the first month all my chaeto died and in the second month all my hair algae was gone.

The scrubber simply out competed all other algae in the tank except bubble, and I’ve been using it for 10 years now but my tank has been redone a few times based on life changes, moving, etc

 

[VintageReefer]

Here are some pics. it self regulates. If I feed more, it grows more algae. If I feed less I just need to wait a little longer between harvesting. My numbers are always the same in 2 years of monthly testing. With no skimmer and no water changes, I have no other form of nutrient export to achieve my success

I ran this same setup on a sps mixed reef for many years also, no water changes, but I did use a skimmer during that time.

I fine tune my numbers by the number of hours a day the leds are on. If I want higher nutrients I reduce the number of hours of led. If I want lower numbers I increase the light period. I have the leds on 18 hours a day to handle my tank.

 

[Bruttall]

Like super impressive wish I had the ability to set up a sump like this so many extra options you can use the sump for genius

Thank you. I tried to think about where I might be with this in 5 years, and 10 years and knowing almost nothing about any of it, learning as I go, I decided to leave space "in case". Or I hope I did that anyways.

I have learned so far, in freshwater that tiny little sump was more than enough for my filtration needs, but with Salt, it wasn't even close. I am solidly of the opinion now that if you run a sump, on a salt tank, that sump needs to be 1/3rd the size of your display MINIMUM. So my formula is 300g dt = 100g sump at smallest. Not to mention how much slower the build up of nutrients in larger water volume giving me more reaction time.

 

[vetteguy53081]

My considerations are:
Size
ability to accommodate the intended accessories (skimmer, pump, fuge, scrubber, etc)
Location (left, right, center)
Material - Glass or acrylic

 

[Idech]

Here are some pics. it self regulates. If I feed more, it grows more algae. If I feed less I just need to wait a little longer between harvesting. My numbers are always the same in 2 years of monthly testing. With no skimmer and no water changes, I have no other form of nutrient export to achieve my success

Is this something you bought or made yourself ?

If bought, do you have a link to the product ?

If DIY’d, can you explain how you made it and what is needed to do so ?

Thanks !

 

[Reefering1]

Beautiful set ups everybody!! Guess I'll be the 1st to represent the hot mess, let nature do its thing, sumpers... its low maintenance, all function/no beauty, and any piece of equipment can be removed for service in less than a minute without disrupting anything else. I wish I had more than a 8'x5' room for the tank. You may want to sit down for this...

 

[Kfactor]

i always run a refugium in a stand alone tank that dumps back in my sump 3 walls painted black to trap more light I just welded up a small holder for it

 

[DJC]

Beautiful set ups everybody!! Guess I'll be the 1st to represent the hot mess, let nature do its thing, sumpers... its low maintenance, all function/no beauty, and any piece of equipment can be removed for service in less than a minute without disrupting anything else. I wish I had more than a 8'x5' room for the tank. You may want to sit down for this...

How long have you been running it for
What kind of filtration your running ?

 

[DJC]

i always run a refugium in a stand alone tank that dumps back in my sump 3 walls painted black to trap more light I just welded up a small holder for it

Very pretty sump I do say myself and smart
What tech you running ? I see multiple outlets there ..

 

[Mark Gray]

I will try and remember to post a picture of mine tomorrow, I am to lazy to go downstairs and take it tonight. Mine has no filter socks my overflow runs into my fudge. The bottom of my fudge has Fuji mud in it. It's loaded with pods bristle worms and cheato. Then my skimmer then back up to the tank.

 

[Reefering1]

How long have you been running it for
What kind of filtration your running ?

That's been running just over 9 years.. there are socks that don't get cleaned or replaced, just there to contain microbubbles from drain. A skimmer, and full siphon drain dumping into unmaintained refugium. Carbon dosing does the heavy lifting, fuge protects from bottoming out(easy recognize decline as it dies back, supplementing the tank with its nutrients as it dies). That's it. The rest is for dosing, a chiller, battery backup, etc

 

[Gill the 3rd]

Here's my setup. I run a separate refugium tank plumbing into my sump. I now use a cheap LED grow light from Home Depot and the chaeto grows like crazy. I set it up this way so I could run my main sump with no baffles, super simple.

 

[Kfactor]

Very pretty sump I do say myself and smart
What tech you running ? I see multiple outlets there ..

i was just sick of having abunch of pumps running different stuff . i had a spare pump so i made a manifold and just hooked up one pump to run everything but my main return

 

[DJC]

Here's my setup. I run a separate refugium tank plumbing into my sump. I now use a cheap LED grow light from Home Depot and the chaeto grows like crazy. I set it up this way so I could run my main sump with no baffles, super simple.

Bottom tank red equipment piece on left side chamber of tank

I’ve seen these in my local fish store what are they and what do they do and how do they benefit the tank
Has like a roller on it ?

 

[Gill the 3rd]

Its a roller mat, specifically the red sea 1200. They take the place of filter socks in your system. You definitely don't need one, but man are they nice lol. I used to run filter socks on my previous tank (180 gallon display) for years and would constantly swap them out in the beginning. Eventually I just took them out since I got tired of changing them and washing them.

There seems to be some pushback by some people against the roller mats on this forum, I'm not sure why. Worth every penny IMO.

 

[turtlewax2020]

Aquamaxx Filter roller, bubble magus curve 7, and icecap turf scrubber. I also have some rock in the bottom to help keep some pods safe and thriving.

 

[Gill the 3rd]

Aquamaxx Filter roller, bubble magus curve 7, and icecap turf scrubber. I also have some rock in the bottom to help keep some pods safe and thriving.

How do you like the turf scrubber so far?

 

[turtlewax2020]

How do you like the turf scrubber so far?

I like it so far, works really well, I only run it a few hours per day.