refugium flow..?

[nycmat]

i have searched and searched to no avail. i am trying to figure out what is the correct flow rate to go through a refugium. i am adding a detachable refugium gravity fed but i have cant seem to find a correct flow on it. does anyone know this? and why? i think it would be good for anyone who is making a add on fuge here for the site or in the future.
thanks
matt

 

[fritz]

I think the reason you can't find info is that it is very subjective. Fuge means many things to many people and what type of fuge you keep will partly determine your flow rate. The size of the fuge is probably the larger determining factor in this equation.

I use my fuge primarily to grow pods and to a lesser degree to grow cheato. My main concern is that my fuge gets very gentle flow through it, enough to barely maintain oxygen levels but not much else. This gives the pods an environment with little turbulence whereby they can swim about looking for food.

Assuming your fuge is for nutrient export you should remember that a fuge isn't a skimmer. It's not a machine. It will be able to process X amount of nutrients and nothing more, pushing an excess of water through it won't be filtering additional water. For nutrient export most people also use a very low gentle flow, slowly passing the water through the macro algae.

 

[emps]

What fritz said ^. I use a minijet 404 to pump the water into my HOB fuge containing my cheato and pods. Flow is regulated to minimal flow. Bigger pods hang off the sides of the fuge, but the smaller pods get pulled out into the main tank to populate. And everyso often I will take the cheato out and shake it out in the main tank to release more pods.

 

[nycmat]

good post fritz. i will be doing the same. my skimmed water will go in to this fuge and be returned to my return section to be brought back to the main display. but like emps said i have seen some fuges that use a a maxi jet. i am intending to have my return from my fluidized reactor to this fuge and then gravity feed it into my sump.
so here is why i am wondering whether or not there should be a regulated flow on it. its an interesting thought as far as how the flow effects the growth rate of everything in the fuge itself.
your thoughts on this

 

[BHDMC]

I am using a Eheim Hobby pump with a flow rate of 317 GPH on my display refugium. The macro algae(caulerpa) are growing well as well as the pods. I agree with Fritz, this topic is subjective.