switching from wet/dry to refugium setup

[allanfranklin]

Hey everyone,

I currently have a 70 gal tank with a wet/dry filtration system utilizing bio-balls. I've been reading a lot that a refugium is the way to go. Would it hurt my tank to knock out the bio-balls and replace with a refugium setup in one fail swoop? I do not have a lot of live rock, probably only around 30 lbs but my tank has been up and running for a year or so. I also have a skimmer setup as well.

I am sort of new to this so please let me know if I have it all wrong, I also would like to know what types of things you put in your refugiums.

Thanks a lot,
Allan

[Bri Guy]

[welcome]

Good choice on the switch, but I wouldn't do it in one fail swoop, Id take some bio-balls out every week for a month, so Its a slow change, not a quick one.

Cheato is a good macro algae, it doesn't attach to rocks or go a-sexual.

Put the fuge on a reverse lighting schedule than the show tank, this will stabilize the pH some.

Good Luck!

[allanfranklin]

Should I introduce the macro algea and refugium as I take the bio-balls out? If so, what would you suggest is the best way to do it? I would need to build a new sump to incorporate the refugium but if I am not going to use bio-balls in the end I'd like to not build a space for them when there is no need.

Any links to refugium sump plans would be great as well.

Thanks for the help.