What is the ACTUAL PURPOSE of a REFUGIUM?

[capn_hylinur]

If comprehension is a problem here then maybe we should supply pictures: LOL

Here is mine:







I really can't picture all of the above in my main tank:

[tmz]

Very nice tank Cap'n. How long have you had that elegance(cataphylia jardenei)?

[ToxicPoison]

Capn -
I'm a little confused about whats going on in your 3rd picture. It looks like the CFL is actually INSIDE your chaeto? Im guessing I'm probably looking at it wrong, but what the heck is going on there?

[cloak]

Originally posted by capn_hylinur
If comprehension is a problem here then maybe we should supply pictures: LOL

Here is mine:







I really can't picture all of the above in my main tank:

If you lost the refuge all together right now, what do you think would happen to your tank? Nice tank btw.

[tmz]

Signing off. Not much else to learn here.

[uscharalph]

Originally posted by cloak
Still seems to me that everything that was stated above can be accomplished in the main tank. Aside from the additional water volume.

You want a seperate slower moving water pool.

[cloak]

A refuge is not a golden parachute. Not that it's bad, don't get it twisted. I have a sump that doesn't see the light of day. Guessing it's a "benethic" zone. Just seems like the main tank might have been mucked up in the first place. RO/DI isn't exactly the save all, end all to begin with.

Still sounds like another tank 2 me.

FWIW.

[snorvich]

cloak, if you have the potential for a benethic zone, you might trying seeding with animals that can provide value there. Sponges, tunicates and other can do well. Simply provide eggcrate structures for them to grow on.

[tmz]

FYI, the term is benthic zone and it refers to the bottom of the tank or rock surface ,basically the zone for surface dwellers. If you are trying to describe a twilight or dark environment then the term is cryptic zone.

[capn_hylinur]

Originally posted by ToxicPoison
Capn -
I'm a little confused about whats going on in your 3rd picture. It looks like the CFL is actually INSIDE your chaeto? Im guessing I'm probably looking at it wrong, but what the heck is going on there?

I crawled inside and took the picture looking up from the substrate

Its the reflection on the surface of the water

[capn_hylinur]

Originally posted by tmz
Very nice tank Cap'n. How long have you had that elegance(cataphylia jardenei)?

since the first of Nov 2007

[ProHaloSniper]

Very nice tank! My next question is:

How do you plumb it in with the first tank? I hope it doesn't involve drilling. If so, I don't THINK I could drill a glass tank!? If I were to accomplish this, how do you DIRECT the water flow down into your refugium and back up into your main tank? I have a 55gallon sitting on a stand with storage underneath, so there is really no issue with putting one in.

To sum it all up, a REFUGIUM acts as a separate filter? If so, how does all the nasty stuff get directed into it? With the media?

--Jim C.

[ProHaloSniper]

Any help on my last question???

--Jim C.

[capn_hylinur]

Originally posted by ProHaloSniper
Very nice tank! My next question is:

How do you plumb it in with the first tank? I hope it doesn't involve drilling. If so, I don't THINK I could drill a glass tank!? If I were to accomplish this, how do you DIRECT the water flow down into your refugium and back up into your main tank? I have a 55gallon sitting on a stand with storage underneath, so there is really no issue with putting one in.

To sum it all up, a REFUGIUM acts as a separate filter? If so, how does all the nasty stuff get directed into it? With the media?

--Jim C.

the tank is on the first floor---water from the overflow is separated and controlled by two ball valves--to the refugium and to the sump
The water from the refug is returned to the sump by gravity and is returned to the main tank through a bulkhead on the far left of the sump. This is past all skimming to allow inverts from the refugium to be returned to the main tank.

The only hole that has to be drilled if you do gravity feed is a whole in the plastic tote(the refugium) and a bulkhead added

[cy88]

I think the OP is trying to get our head worked out. The function of the refugium has been stated very clearly in the above posts, supported with nice pictures.

Yes, it's another tank. Of course you can choose to go without a ref/sump, but it will not be as good. I would think someone that has "11 yrs saltwater, 9 yrs reefing" experience would at least know about this and more willing to try to understand this instead of keep going "this is a second tank, FWIW".

[schigara]

Exercise in futility. The OP apparently knows what is right and what is wrong no matter what others, with proven success, have to say. I guess he has kept many 0 nitrate tanks without refugiums and thinks we are all just ignorant.

[ProHaloSniper]

Lets stop caring about him and help me! I'm the beginner.

Anybody got any plans for rubbermaid refugiums? if not, where do you get the tank separators for the bio-balls and such?

if that isnt easy, does a HANG ON REFUGIUM serve the same purpose? My LFS has them on all of their tanks.

Let me know!

--Jim C.

[capn_hylinur]

Originally posted by ProHaloSniper
Lets stop caring about him and help me! I'm the beginner.

Anybody got any plans for rubbermaid refugiums? if not, where do you get the tank separators for the bio-balls and such?

if that isnt easy, does a HANG ON REFUGIUM serve the same purpose? My LFS has them on all of their tanks.

Let me know!

--Jim C.

the picture above is a a plastic tote--what don't you understand about the setup?--I'll be happy to help you out

you don't need bioballs--good live rock is better

if the refugium is separate then you don't need baffles in the sump other then to slow down flow.

[capn_hylinur]

here is a good thread on sumps and refugiums:

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1207565

[wsamsky]

Originally posted by cloak
Why though? What was wrong with the first tank?

Cheato and othe macro algae is ugly...

[erikages]

Hi, all.



I'm setting up a new refugium (20 gals). I'm running a mature tank (7 years) with a deep sand bed and stable, healthy chemistry.



Here's my question: should I keep this new tank off line (e.g. not being fed and draining into the main system) until it goes through nitrication cycle. Will it go through a cycle like this if fed by 120 gals of established reef and water flow?



I'll be placing established live rock and a new bag of "live" agragonite sand into the refugium and plan to let it all settle out before planting it and setting up some algae screens.



So: recommendations. Let it sit pretty and stinky before linking in, or will the established tank manage the new load and any nitrification cycle that occurrs?



Also, any recommendations on lighting? I plan to do reverse daylight (as I do with my sump).



Thanks for any advice you might have!



Erik

[tmz]

If you are integrating it into your main system with sytem water and sytem live rock it will already be cycled except perhaps for some of the sand. I don't use sand in the 20g refugium , just macroalgae(red kelp and chaetomorpha)and a small pile of live rock rubble.
I just plumbed it in and turned on the water from the system.

I use 2 65 w pc bulbs in a small fixture on opposite photo. You can do well with less light.

[cloak]

I will go out on a limb here. Pretty sure you can keep that tank without the refuge, No?