Refugium Help. what the heck did i build?

[ryangrieder]

alright well people been telling me the refugiums are so good and whatever cause i have some algae and bad nitrate problems. so i built one and wanted to know if i just waisted my time or did i actually do something right for once. its very simple. my external hang on has two holes one going, 50 percent flowing to my sump and the other 50 percent going into my small 5g sump. all i did in the sump was get two peices of plexi glass cut, one 1/8 inch shorter then the other. i put them into the tank and left about a foot in the middle open for the fuge. on one side of the plexi has the water line, and across the fuge on the other side on the plexi is a power head pumping into my sump. the center again is the fuge. i put carib sea fuge mud and Fugi Mud my marc wise or whoever. i got some random calerpa and macroalgae in there with like 2 pounds of rock and a few zoo's and pylops that were stuck on the rock. right now i only have a clamp light on top of the fuge with just an LED bulb. i have a 12 inch coralife two 18watt power compact bulb 50/50 i can put on but have to clean it off.

is that correct or did what i just build prove nothing? and what does the fuge actually do in your terms. thanks. any tips to or mistakes i made let me know!!!

the fuge i built. in that pic i did not put the mud and ect. in it yet.

the tank for it

 

[DaddyReefer13]

Look fine to me . . just be mindful of back siphoning. If there is a power outage or pump failure. Do you have enough available tank water volume on the 5G to prevent a flood.

Good Luck

 

[ryangrieder]

yeah i got that aqua lifter pump on the overflow so when the power goes out everything stops. thought about that and was like ohh nooo so i bought that and worked like a charm

 

[Imbarrie]

It looks fine. As long as you get a healthy harvest of macro algae on a regular basis then you are exporting nutrients.

Just an idea if you wanted to eliminate the fuge pump you could get some over flow type tubes, as long as both ends always stay underwater. Or better yet drill the tank or get a small acrylic tank that is easier to drill.
Might save a little on noise also.

 

[ryangrieder]

thanks alot man. good idea. that would give me some extra room, people say i should dose iron? what do you think

 

[ScorpionSys]

I dont like the pump usage to get the water into the sump. You would be better off with a 5 gallon plastic Tupperware with a bulkhead or 2 at the top that drained into the sump. Just think less pumps to cause potential floods if they clog or stop working. With the bulkheads if the fuge pump kicks you wont have a flood as of now if it does the volume of your sump can be on the floor.

 

[ScorpionSys]

The fuge should contain some macro algae that will be free from predators and grow. the thought is if you allow a hearty algae to grow there it will help keep nuisance algae from growing in your tank. it will also be a safe haven for pods and other such live foods to grow and reproduce without being eaten. this can help feed your tank.

 

[ReefFan]

lol. great title. Fuges are great man.
Id recommend putting a couple different types of algae in there, definetly including Cheato. I have some good stuff, preseeded with lots of critters to start ya off. I have a lil theory that adding different types in there promotes competition and a macro algae battle royale means more growth = more nutrient uptake.

PM me if you have any questions or if youd like a portion of my Cheato. I have a thread on here that i bump once in a while but I just harvested some a few days ago and its been added to my culturing tank. Lots of mini brittles in that harvest.

Have fun with your fuge

-Jay