Could I use this for a small refugium??

[Northwest Inverts]

Hello,

 

I would like to put some LR Rubble and Cheato into Chamber 1.

I will be using Chamber 2 for a skimmer so no room left there.

Will there be any issues with using chamber 1 for a small refugium?

It's about 15 inches deep and 4" wide but kind of triangular in shape.

Any tips or advice here?? I could really use any help here. Will it work?

Here is a photo of what it looks like. This is kind of a built in rear overflow/sump on a 40g truvu system.

 

 

[moovinfast]

I dont see why not. Just add a little clip on light for it.

[reeftripper]

I see no reason this won't work. Do use a small light above the cheato (5-6.5K) I would rotate the cheato every couple of weeks to get the light to the bottom cheato. When your cheato is growing well harvest some every couple of weeks. something else that might be cool would be a single red mangrove. I bought 12 last week for 20.00 and that included shipping. Good luck.

[Giant_Erie_Octopus]

Hmm - what's the point of a refugium that small? Realistically you aren't going to get a noticeable reduction in nitrates out of the macroalgae in there. As a true refuge for small inverts maybe - but at that point turning it into more of a cryptic zone filter by loosely packing it with LR and foregoing the light entirely would seem like the better way to go. Any sort of algal scrubbing system is all about lit surface area - something a 4" X 6" X 15" deep chamber is lacking. And with any luck we'll cultivate lots of sponges in the cryptic zone which would be better anyway as sponges are going to pull DOM from the water whereas the macro has to wait for the DOM to be broken down into nitrate/phosphate before it can be effectively utilized.

 

Just some thoughts - YMMV, but I see enough refugiums turn into algal nightmares all while not really benefitting the system in any real way that I always try to figure out the intended purpose of the refugium and see if there isn't a "better" way. (I came up in the hobby when refugiums were "new" - now they're a marketing ploy mostly)

 

Cheers,

Austin

[jgf86123]

I dont see why not. Just add a little clip on light for it.

 

I agree, little clip on light, some chaeto, some LRR, and you should be good to go. I've seen smaller refugiums and they worked just fine.

[Giant_Erie_Octopus]

I agree' date=' little clip on light, some chaeto, some LRR, and you should be good to go. I've seen smaller refugiums and they worked just fine.[/quote']

 

Define "worked".

 

Cheers,

Austin

[Northwest Inverts]

Thanks for all the advice, it's well taken.

 

Take Care, Dean

[Northwest Inverts]

I always try to figure out the intended purpose of the refugium and see if there isn't a "better" way

 

I guess my main purpose is to produce pods. I figured I have nothing that I am using in that chamber, so why not create a small refugium in it? What could it really hurt? If it doesnt work out, I'll remove it. What could be potential downsides of doing it?

 

Take Care, Dean

[jgf86123]

Hey Inverts, how's your fuge working out?

[Northwest Inverts]

Hey There!

 

I havent done it yet because I was waiting to see where all the equipment was going to end up located once I had it all running and cycling in case i had to make changes. The tank is a little over 2 months old now running and is doing very well so I will be adding that little fuge in the next 2 weeks and see how it works. Thanks for the reply. All that rock i got from you is really awesome, it continues to get more pink/purple almost daily and the life in and on it is thriving. We see pods daily crawling around the rocks.

 

Thanks, Dean