Refugium Brainstorm

AHBrit · 07-13-2005, 11:31 PM

I'm trying to convert Seth's (Rude944) 40G tank into a Fuge.
Picture shows where i am so far. Am i doing anything wrong?

Tank = 40G
Lighting = 40W (Apparently)
Movement = 270GPH

Filled with:
5lbs Pukani Live rock
1lb Seth rubble
Sand sifting star
Chaeto

i plan to feed the fuge from the overflow when it's built, at around the same speed as the current pump. i will drill a hole to gravity feed to the return.

funstarfish · 07-13-2005, 11:55 PM

i honestly think it depends on what sort of setup you are going with... barebottom for sand? softies or stonies? i see absolutely no use for a fuge in the traditional sense with a barebottom stonies tank. its just another place to trap crap

rude944 · 07-13-2005, 11:56 PM

There is a school of thought that suggests that you should have the fuge higher then the main display, that way, there are no disrupting forces (ie h2o pumps) that could main/kill/injure living foods on their way back to the tank.

Pros:The fuge should have fairly little flow, I think you nailed that. A bunch more rubble should help you grow more pods. I would fill like half the tank up with rubble to get more caluerpa closer to the light. Yeah, and more caluerpa. Let that spread like smallpox.

Cons:A heater??? Dunno about that.
Definately no sand sifting star. No carnivores at all.

AHBrit · 07-14-2005, 12:18 AM

the heater is there just for the time being. just trying to keep the water at the right temp in the garage.
I've opted for Chaeto intead of caluerpa because i keep reading about caluerpa going asexual (not quite sure what that means ~ sounds bad).
not sure what to do with the star right now. he was in my mantis tank before i tore it down and i haven't found him a home yet.
I'm interested in the gravity feed to the main tank but have no idea how i could achieve that.
i removed the dead snail tonight ~ thx Seth. wondered why it stunk so bad.

Lowman · 07-14-2005, 12:24 AM

Lots more rock. I would buy or trade for the star if yuo want it gone.

Illusion · 07-14-2005, 12:51 AM

Calupera when It goes Asexual pretty much spawns and drops the Oxygen in the tank really low... Then you end up with it everywhere... Chaeto is the "thing" to use now... Doesnt go Sexual and is free floating so It doesnt attach and become a Nusience...

Rubble is great for the pods... So is chaeto...

James

sanblas · 07-14-2005, 01:13 AM

ive heard that sand sifting stars are actually counter productive...they'll decimate your microfauna in a sandbed and then normally starve to death since they need more 'sand life'than we can give them except for a very large tank

rude944 · 07-14-2005, 04:49 PM

I want 3 quid more for the snail that you killed. Had I known you were going to kill my snail, I wouldn't have forgotten about him in there.

Krux · 07-14-2005, 08:53 PM

if the tank is bare bottom, then you definately do not want sand in the fuge. if you are following the proper maintenance procedures for a bb tank, that is, the high flow, siphoning, and skimming, the idea is to get the garbage out of the tank. by putting a sand bed in the fuge it is acting as a place for the gunk to settle where you can not reach it. if you have a tank with a dsb that would be fine, as the bacteria load in the substrate would work fine in allowing the garbage to break down, but when your main display is bare, you do not have the faculties to allow that poop to rot safely.

to agree with what is said above, if the fuge is for pod growing, you do not want anything in there to compete and descimate the population before it has a chance to work its way into the main display.

i had an elevated fuge for a while... honestly though except for a few larger pods that may exist in the fuge, the smaller stuff can pass cleanly through the impellers... for the most part we are talking tiny tiny food.

if it were my pod farm, i would have about 30 lbs of rock in there, a floating ball of chaeto (in my tank i can't keep macro alive due to the low nutrients, but lets pretend i could) and a few snails to clean the rock out. you want to elevate the rock off the bottom, and position a powerhead or spraybar at the back to blow the poop forward after it settles so you can easily siphon it out. remember, anything sitting is rotting, and rot pollutes, so keeping it around is generally not a good idea... unless you are a waste treatment plant or something.

liquidfunk · 07-14-2005, 09:22 PM

I would love the sand sifting star,,, Im in a bit of a different situation with my octopus tank. It will be a very messy animal and the star will have plenty of cleaning to do. Due to not being able to have many in the way of clean up crew (stars are OK) Ill have some messy sand without something. Star seems perfect. Ill be at meeting if you want to trade/give/sell

AHBrit · 07-14-2005, 09:38 PM

Lowman beat you to it. i'll be at the meeting on sunday. if it falls through it's yours

Illusion · 07-14-2005, 09:40 PM

So Keith Since you just grabbed another 10lbs of rubble from me Hows about posting a pic with all of it in there LOL...

BTW thats all the Rubble you are getting from me LOL... I gotta use the rest for mounting Frags...

James

jmanrow · 07-14-2005, 09:51 PM

Not all of the plankton & pods are killed by the pump returns, but if you have seen brine shrimp that have gone through powerheads, then you know it looked better previously. If after it's return to the main tank, it is only going to be eaten... then this probably not a problem.
An alternative would be to locate the refugium next to the main tank using a relatively slow feed pump to the fuge. The return is a gravity feed, with no damage to the pods. I used this system with a DSB, and the Caulerpa and Chaetomorpha were overgrowing the refugium. I always had a supply of Caulerpa & Chaeto for the LFS.

Another option is mud filtration, as in the EcoSystem http://www.ecosystemaquarium.com/index.html . You might talk to WavesSam about his experiences using it. Macroalgae & pods are said to flourish in these systems.

Still another option I have been looking into is the Environment Gradient System which has been used by Steve Tyree the last few years http://www.dynamicecomorphology.com/ using live sponges and tunicates as filtration. It is said no skimmer needs to, or should be used with this system.

AHBrit · 07-15-2005, 12:03 AM

Okay. i've lifted the rocks
This looks Hokey
Have a laugh!!!!!

Check out that weird snail moving around in there. thats like the grossest snail i've ever seen.....What kind is it? (it's body flaps around in fast circles when you move it from the water)

AHBrit · 07-15-2005, 12:08 AM

i removed all but about 1/2" of sand. what is that white stuff? egg crate. found tons of it with the 250g

Refugium Brainstorm

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