refugium

[duke1231]

does anyone think I have space for a small refugium? http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/gallery/files/1/0/0/8/DSCN1037.JPG

[JayBeDriften]

Duke1231, a refugium does not necessarily have to be hung off your tank. Which is what I think you trying to ask about from your question. The definition of a refugium is basically any area where you can isolate a specific thing to be free from predation. I myself have a tall rather then wide aquarium and my refugium is a converted wet/dry trickle filter. So you can install an overflow to drain water from your aquarium to another aquarium per say and have a return pump to bring the water back into you main display. So to answer you question, yes a refugium of any size can be added to your tank.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e102/Jasonanatal/47%20gallon%20Cube%20Reef%20Aquarium/th_IMG_3126.jpg (http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e102/Jasonanatal/47%20gallon%20Cube%20Reef%20Aquarium/IMG_3126.jpg)
Latest photograph of my Refugium to the left of the main display.

[duke1231]

oh sorry Jay, the sump is what I was refering to lol you are quick replyer. I havent figured out how to paste the code for the pic in the thread without havent to post words first and then go to photo gallery and cut the code come back and paste it on the thread lol. Sorry about that. I am wondering if it is possible in your, or anyone elses opionion for that matter, if I can put a refugium on the right side of the sump in the pic. the left side will be where the water comes in from the main tank. I will have a filter material wrapped around the egg crate and then I havent figured out what to put on the second shelf. I was hoping you guys could help out.Thanks

[JayBeDriften]

From that setup I would try a hang-over refugium which could run the entire height and width of the refugium. What are the dimensions because that sump seems pretty small?

[duke1231]

BTW that is a sweet setup you got going on. Your main tank look very very nice. Is it true what they say about the tall tanks that its hard to maintain oxygen in them because of thier shape?

[duke1231]

12x12x20. I thought it would be fine for a 29 gal. Oh no dont tell me I wasted my precious money.

[wwest]

no its fine. i am going to run a 15 gallon on my 29 12x12x20 comes to 12.5 gallons so you are ok. the bigger sump you have the better for more water volume, but anything will work. you are over 1/3rd the size of the DT so you will be ok.. i like the look of that sump and honestly would like to have one like that myself :) your fine..

[duke1231]

thankyou very much for your comment. I thought I had wasted my money. My protein skimmer is going to hang on the the side anyway, so I think that will leave a little room for my refugium. Oh thanks for the info on posting pics it helped immensley.

[Small Fry]

i would say slap some sand and lr rubble on the right side and some chaeto in there and your in business. Refugiums, as said before, do not have to follow a specific blueprint, whatever room you can give a refuge is good enough.

Any area where your pod population etc... can thrive is good enough, you should have more than enough room for a fuge as far as a 29 gallon tank, as said before, any fuge is a good fuge.

I dunno if your question has been answered already, but i hope this helped

[wwest]

No problem Darren thats what were here for :) Happy Reefing :)

[duke1231]

How do you anchor the chaeto into the sump or fuge? Thanks again for your help.

[wwest]

most people dont have to ancor. The flow going threw the chaeto is general moderate-low flow and it usually stays in place. I dont have mine up and running yet so i cant talk from experience..

[Rob]

tumbling chaeto is happy chaeto.. dont worry about it, just make sure it doesn't get into your pumps, as that could be bad.. :)

[duke1231]

So it just floats in the water?

[CarmieJo]

Mine does. :)

[duke1231]

sweet thats to easy. Can they grow out of control?

[wwest]

Ive heard that it will grow so much that you will have to purchase a weed eater just to control it coming out of the stand......:agree:

Nah im kidding. ive heard of people cutting it down about once every month or two.. so it grows fairly quick. If you can pull this off you can either sell it to a LFS or trade it for smaller items. Chaeta is not worth alot but anything helps in this hobbie. :)

[CarmieJo]

And I have read that pruning it encourages new growth thus removing more undesirable nutrients from your tank.

[JayBeDriften]

I have heard the same CarmieJo. It's sad that 99.9% of the stores around the New York City area don't have any for sale. I have to drive about 2 hours North to the country in order to find a place that was nice enough to give me some for free and just asked that I bring the excess growth back so that other people could benefit. I'm curious what is the photo-period that everyone exposes their Cheato to?

[JustDavidP]

Chaeto DOES do best when kept in a ball formation, tumbling in the refugium. With the water flow coming up on that right side of the chamber, you should be good to go! As Rob mentioned, try to keep it (and the little break aways) from entering into your pumps or it will bind it.

I have my fuge and the chaeto on a reverse cycle from my display. It gets a full 12 hours of light. The more intense the lighting, the faster it will grow. You will also notice color difference in chaeto from light to dark green depending on the lighting. I've got some in the main fuge that is very light green and is exposed to lots of light. I have another ball in a separate chamber that is darker green and receives only the ambient lighting from the fuge.

Best to keep it trimmed in a ball shape, with a circumference that allows it to freely roll about in the chamber it is housed in. As it gets larger and begins to get "stuck", simply tear off some of it and pass on to another reefer so he/she doesn't have to drive two hours to get their own ;)

Dave

[duke1231]

great thanks for the info that was very helpful:)