HOB or Sump Refugium?

[Contender]

In my quest to lower phosphates I am planning on adding a refugium to my tank. With that much settled, the question still remains....what type of refugium?

My options are either to buy a hang on back refugium (max width 4"), or to replace my existing sump with a larger one that I could section off an area to provide room for a refugium. As far as costs, they would probably be pretty equal. However, the sump refugium would take substantial more planning and time.

So here are my questions....what are the pros an cons of each system? Is the sump worth the extra time and effort? Approximately what size refugium would I need to make an impact on a 55 gallon tank? What has worked for you?

Your suggestions, experiences and refugium designs are all welcome. I would also appreciate any lighting advice.

 

[Contender]

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[clk2609]

no experience with hangon refug.

I had a refug on my old 110g.... actually. Had enough height in my stand to have a larger sump on bottom and had a smaller sump sitting on top that was the refug with water draining from refug into sump.

How big is your sump now? Could you just section off an area and add some sand and throw a light over it? that way do not have to do major plumbing mods.

I do not have the answer on how big your refug needs to be, IMO as big as your sump can handle. You will be surprised how fast macro grows.

I say the sump refug is worth the extra time and effort. You can hide refug and lighting in stand

good luck

 

[Anonymous]

I have a 75 gallon basement refugium for a 120 tank, so I guess I think bigger is better. I think the HOB refugiums are better than nothing, but pretty small.

Where are the phosphates coming from?

 

[Contender]

How big is your sump now? Could you just section off an area and add some sand and throw a light over it? that way do not have to do major plumbing mods.

My sump right now is pretty small (about 1'8" x8"). It is a wet dry that I am working on taking out the bio balls (converting to DSB). The way it is shaped makes it nearly impossible to section off an area and still leave room for my skimmer and pump.

Had enough height in my stand to have a larger sump on bottom and had a smaller sump sitting on top that was the refug with water draining from refug into sump.

Did you have all the water travelling through your fuge before going to your sump, or did you have some type of split that limited or slowed the flow going through your fuge?

 

[Contender]

Where are the phosphates coming from?

Wish I knew, I have been trying to figure that out myself. I feed pretty conservatively and I do my water changes and top offs with RODI water. Either way, I am sick of red slime so I am doing some extensive changes to my tank. I am removing my old filthy shallow sand bed and converting to a DSB, hoping my detritus filled sand is the culprit. I also plan on upgrading my skimmer to a better one in the near future, as well as add this refugium.

And if all that doesn't work, I will just start referring to red slime as "my new red coral".

 

[buff1]

My opinion is that the bigger the refugium, the better. If you have room for an under tank refugium that is significantly bigger than a HOB, then that is the way to go. The HOB, however, isn't bad and certainly better than nothing. The nice thing about them is that they fit a single bulb power compact bulb very nicely. If you go with a HOB, I highly recommend a style that uses a powerhead to pump water into the refugium and then the water flows back into the tank by gravity (ie: CPR refugiums). The critters that go into your tank don't have to pass through a pumps impeller. You also don't have to worry about a U-tube losing its siphon.

 

[Contender]

If you go with a HOB, I highly recommend a style that uses a powerhead to pump water into the refugium and then the water flows back into the tank by gravity (ie: CPR refugiums).

Thanks for the tip. I will definitely look into these if I decide to go with the HOB.

 

[clk2609]

I had 2 overflows from tank, both were dual 1" drains. Had one overflow just for refug, other overflow into sump and also fed skimmer.

worked well for me!!

My refug was 2 compartments, drains from tank in left compartment, water went under compartment into refug compartment and i had 2 1" drains from that refug going into another sump

good luck