water movement in fuge or no??

[mike90]

Do I need to put a small powerhead in my fuge for current movement or is it best to not have current in the fuge? It 's a 10gallon tank fuge for a 90 gallon tank. That's all I had room for.

 

[SnowManSnow]

I'm not sure what it would hurt.

b

 

[brandon4291]

I'd recommend some movement for sure. When my refugium gets slow, due to overgrowth of macro, I get some algae sheets that aren't there when the movement is better. Also, for the intent of filtration and dispersal of microplanktors (the heart of the refugium philosophy) I like movement to provide the in/out workings of the water through the macro fields.


*** Oh I just re read the post. You were asking about additional movement, other than what your in/out plumbing allows...I'd take a look at the little stringy stolons on the macroalgae. If they are waiving back and forth, that's usually decent movement without any extra. If there are dead spots in many areas or in places where the macro clumps make a lot of coverage, I can see adding a little powerhead to keep it flowing.

 

[Len]

You need some movement for sure, but the water flow through the fuge is usually sufficient. If you have no sand, I'd aim for about 100gph. With sand, I'd aim for 150-200gph.

 

[mike90]

its only a 10 gallon fuge. i tried putting a small power head in there but it seems to blow my chaeto algae around too much resulting in little strands of it going everwhere. is it good for chaeto to be moving around all that much?