Refugiums

[TheConstantGrower]

Today: Refugiums.

Alright for those of you that choose to filter nature with..... more nature; I need to know what nature you have decided to utilize in your nature filter. and should you choose to run this in line with a wet/dry where do you put your fuge? before or after. Ive asked countless keepers who use fuges filled with fish and swear by using it before the wet/dry and keepers that just stock veggie and don't even use w/d.

Plants?
Fish?
Inverts?
Even mangroves.

So here i am to deliver the same question, and pictures are always appreciated. when responding, imagine that everyone around you has a very clear understanding of the light cycle of plants in vegetative (24 hour light cycle) vs flowering (12/12 light cycle). Also a good solid understanding of nitrogen cycle and /or nitrate / ammonia absorbtion.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

I havent used a fuge on a FW tank but having had a planted tank and seeing how effect plants are as a filter system I have a few ideas about it.

Personally I would go for a low light, fast growing stem plant. Hygrophila polysperma would probably work well as it grows quickly, is very hardy and doesnt need a massive amount of light. Cant remember ever seeing any studies as to which tropical FW plants take up the most nutrients from the water column so there might be much more suitable candidates.

Personally I would put the wet/dry in afterwards as a back up. Let the plants get the majority of it and have the wet/dry finish anything off that is left.

I did turn the filter off on my planted tank for a week when it was well established and didnt notice any rise in ammonia, nitrite or nitrate (in fact all three where always at zero and I had to dose extra nitrate in addition to my normal fert dosing), so it can work.

 

[TheConstantGrower]

Im willing to bet that if you were to separate a 20 gallon into a 3 stage tank first one is a small ammount of bio balls then the small ceramics. bubble trap to fuge, bubble trap with carbon to pump chamber then back to tank. never see another airstone or other filter again, with a few inverts you should be able to almost never have to change water... just keep adding.

In theory.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Yep Im pretty positive you could do it, personally I would ditch the carbon as well. I still think water changes are a good idea no matter how clean the water is (to replace used minerals for example or re dilute ones that build up) but I do know people with large (heavily) planted tanks that have no filtration on them at all and also only top up water lost through evaporation.

I have kept tropical fish for years and my planted tank was the only one that consistently had zero nitrates (even with heavy stocking and feeding).

Would be interesting to test it with a number of different plants to see which ones are most effective. Easy enough to setup a test for it as well (though I dont have the space to do it right now). Would be a lot less maintenance than a filter. No having to pull it apart to clean it every couple of weeks, just trim the plants back every so often and jobs done (lol Im almost tempted to set up a FW trop tank again to have a play with it)

 

[chris348]

Creating a fuge in my sump using Miracle Mud and some phyto... Once things have settled in then i shall be looking for some Cheato to help things along.

Also have a nice block of reefresh in there too.... anything helps..

 

[TheConstantGrower]

Creating a fuge in my sump using Miracle Mud and some phyto... Once things have settled in then i shall be looking for some Cheato to help things along.

Also have a nice block of reefresh in there too.... anything helps..

Seems as though someone got confused. Refuge is crucial to sw/reef keeping.

This is discussion on a freshwater refuge.

And i did more searching on mangroves and they seem to be the "everything" plant. they clean out so many of the harmful mineral build ups, take care of the ammonia / nitrate / blah blah ect. they are suited for both freshwater and marine, and only require that you add a little epsom salt to your refuge sand bed for a little extra magnesium... i believe its magnesium.

and the ratio that i read is pretty much one mangrove per 10 gallons. (fw) 2 mangroves per 10gal (sw).

And of course you should have a tropical fw. everyone should have at least one freshwater tank in their house.

I swear ill have an estuary one day. ill call it "dining room"

 

[Dorkhedeos]

Seems as though someone got confused. Refuge is crucial to sw/reef keeping.

I would take a skimmer over a fuge anyday

 

[TheConstantGrower]

Can you skim protein from a freshwater sump? thought that was one of those marine only things, i understand that all bodies of water produce the foam and whatnot, but i didn't realize that it would have as great an impact on FW.

 

[Dorkhedeos]

Oh, I was refering to sw because you were too. There was a way to skim FW, but its not economical and it hasnt been put out into the market yet. It had something to do with ionizing water or something of that nature.

 

[TheConstantGrower]

Oh, I was refering to sw because you were too. There was a way to skim FW, but its not economical and it hasnt been put out into the market yet. It had something to do with ionizing water or something of that nature.

Ive heard of those actually. its a mechanical way to handle something you could even do in a fuge with mangroves / macro alga's / hopes and dreams.

 

[chris348]

Creating a fuge in my sump using Miracle Mud and some phyto... Once things have settled in then i shall be looking for some Cheato to help things along.

Also have a nice block of reefresh in there too.... anything helps..

Seems as though someone got confused. Refuge is crucial to sw/reef keeping.

This is discussion on a freshwater refuge.

And i did more searching on mangroves and they seem to be the "everything" plant. they clean out so many of the harmful mineral build ups, take care of the ammonia / nitrate / blah blah ect. they are suited for both freshwater and marine, and only require that you add a little epsom salt to your refuge sand bed for a little extra magnesium... i believe its magnesium.

and the ratio that i read is pretty much one mangrove per 10 gallons. (fw) 2 mangroves per 10gal (sw).

And of course you should have a tropical fw. everyone should have at least one freshwater tank in their house.

I swear ill have an estuary one day. ill call it "dining room"

OOOOps sorry there fella,

just saw the Refuge and the mangrove option, nitrates etc etc and put them all together. Marine lol...

Sorry again..

Seems as though someone got confused. Refuge is crucial to sw/reef keeping.

I would take a skimmer over a fuge anyday

Most of us use both mate lol Anything to get the water conditions/level just right.