I am setting up a 16"L x 9"W x 16"T refugium for my 75 gal. Presently, I do not have a DSB in the main tank. I want to add a 4" DSB to the refugium and grow macro's. I have looked into purchasing the substrate, but I do not know what to buy. CaribSea produces about a million different products of all sizes. Do I want the Aragamax Sand (.2-1.2mm), the Seaflor Falmingo Pink Reef (1-2mm), Special Grade Reef Sand (1.2-4mm), or something else? I believe I will need about 30 pounds for the 4". (I do not have access to SouthDown Sand.) Also, I was thinking of using PC's for lighting. Do you need any "Actinic" to grow macro's? And finally, one last question. I have read different ideas on flow rates through a refugium. What do you believe is the correct flow and what is your flow? Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
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Refugium Setup
- Thread starter rmor22
- Start date
I have a CPR refugium, the largest one. My main complaints are that it is too narrow (I think it is 6" wide) and water flow is slower than perhaps it should be.
The reason you want slow water flow is so that the nitrates have a chance to diffuse into the sand bed or be absorbed by the macro-algae. However if everything is at steady-state in your aquarium, it seems to me that this really shouldn't depend on water flow rate. I have had my refugium for a year, and as it becomes overgrown with maroalgae, as it does pretty quickly, stuff gets trapped in that matrix and I get some cyano growth. I added a small powerhead to increase circulation, and although this helped, it has not solved the problem.
As for sand, a mixture of arganite sizes is probably best, including oolitic and the next size up. You can spike this with a small amount of live sand, and also add some life from say the Indopacific Sea Farms kits. Try to get at least 4" of sand.
I use daylight PCs only. In fact I use 1.5 year old bulbs because I am a cheapskate, and it works perfectly fine. Macroalgae grow all over the place.
So in short, I think slow flow rate is what everyone recommends, but from a physical chemist's viewpoint, this really doesn't seem necessary. Daylight lamps are fine for macroalgae. A mixture of sand sizes is best, and spike "dead" sand with some live sand for the best cost/effectiveness tradeoff.
The reason you want slow water flow is so that the nitrates have a chance to diffuse into the sand bed or be absorbed by the macro-algae. However if everything is at steady-state in your aquarium, it seems to me that this really shouldn't depend on water flow rate. I have had my refugium for a year, and as it becomes overgrown with maroalgae, as it does pretty quickly, stuff gets trapped in that matrix and I get some cyano growth. I added a small powerhead to increase circulation, and although this helped, it has not solved the problem.
As for sand, a mixture of arganite sizes is probably best, including oolitic and the next size up. You can spike this with a small amount of live sand, and also add some life from say the Indopacific Sea Farms kits. Try to get at least 4" of sand.
I use daylight PCs only. In fact I use 1.5 year old bulbs because I am a cheapskate, and it works perfectly fine. Macroalgae grow all over the place.
So in short, I think slow flow rate is what everyone recommends, but from a physical chemist's viewpoint, this really doesn't seem necessary. Daylight lamps are fine for macroalgae. A mixture of sand sizes is best, and spike "dead" sand with some live sand for the best cost/effectiveness tradeoff.
Ditto everything anemone said...
I use a 175 Watt 5500K Halide over my 29 Gal Refugium. No Actinic lighting... Stuff still grows like a weed.
I'd go with as deep of a sandbed as you can . Have 6 inches in my refugium, and can see life all the way to the bottom. There are also a couple of kinds of Macro's to choose from. Having had most of them, the only one I'd recommend is the Chetomorpha. Grows in tight bunches, looks like a green Brill-O Pad (or Angel Hair Pasta). Never turns to mush, and never attaches to anything (the bigger benefit IMO). Halimeda is nice too, but doesn't grow nearly as fast as Macro's.
- Mac
I use a 175 Watt 5500K Halide over my 29 Gal Refugium. No Actinic lighting... Stuff still grows like a weed.
I'd go with as deep of a sandbed as you can . Have 6 inches in my refugium, and can see life all the way to the bottom. There are also a couple of kinds of Macro's to choose from. Having had most of them, the only one I'd recommend is the Chetomorpha. Grows in tight bunches, looks like a green Brill-O Pad (or Angel Hair Pasta). Never turns to mush, and never attaches to anything (the bigger benefit IMO). Halimeda is nice too, but doesn't grow nearly as fast as Macro's.
- Mac
This is a basic DSB question but I have not been able to locate the answer. Do I mix the different sizes together or do I layer with the smallest on the bottom to the largest on top? Do you think a 32 Watt PC would be enough for the macro's or should I go with (2) 32's? I had the acrylic sump made by Amiracle. They had the best price by far and were great to work with. It looks just like the Life Reef Refugium. I tried to go with a Rubbermade, but I could not find one deep enough that was narrow enough to fit through my cabinet door. So, I splurged on the acrylic and it looks great. Thanks again!
I was told by Dr. Shimek that the sand size should be a small as possible, about 1mm is just fine. Mixing different sizes you will eventually end up with coarse on top and start trapping detritus and became a aerobic zone (nitrate factory). Since the flow rate is slow, you should not have to worry about sands being blown around, plus you have the macro's root holding the sand down. The water flow should be moderate to slow as you do not want the pods to get blown around either.
I think you should experienment on the lighting. Use only one for now, and plan for additional 32W PC. Macro algae (depend on how far away the light is and which specie you are trying to cultivate) does not need a whole lot of light to thrive. Add another one if you think one strip is not enough.
I think you should experienment on the lighting. Use only one for now, and plan for additional 32W PC. Macro algae (depend on how far away the light is and which specie you are trying to cultivate) does not need a whole lot of light to thrive. Add another one if you think one strip is not enough.
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