Dark Refugium?

[Anthony.Luciano710]

i had someone tell me that a dark refugium can really help with nirtates today. i was wondering, i have an extra fluval 405 laying around. if i just fill that with live sand and rock and keep it in complete darkness what do you guys think. i thought it would be a great idea since its like a deep sand bed and all the nocturnal worms and stuff will always be out and filtering the water. so yea lmk what you guys think.

 

[Arati]

this is part of the steve tyree zonal refugium system or enviormental gradient filtration systems ... or however its spelled by people who can spell.....

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/tyreecmatv1.htm

http://www.dynamicecomorphology.com/depublish.htm

have fun

 

[Jkedra]

the first time he told me this it made me laugh a bit but it's actually a good creative idea...at least it would put the canister into good use

 

[bigdog1428]

I can use the canister for my qt tank


Sent from my iPhone using Reefs

 

[spacenyc]

has anyone tried this?

sounds like a great idea, has anyone actually had positive results?

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

the guy that told me about it yesterday said he had amazing results with it and his nitrates just dropped. and i think it would work to because if you think about it. in a deep sand bad you want to get it as dark as possible so thats y its so deep (and also because the bacteria is anaerobic) but in a dark refugium you will have maximum darkness for all the nocturnal filter feeders to come out all day every day and filter the water of nitrates. some people say it even works so good you need to put excess nutrients in the tank to keep them alive. but yea im gonna try it today i think.

sounds like a great idea, has anyone actually had positive results?

 

[tosiek]

IMO, spend your time and energy on something that is less hazardous for your tank with the same positive results. That little cryptic zone can nuke your tank very quick. Plus that small cryptic zone is much too small to be of any benefit to your tank unless your running a 20g tank. Last I seen the natural sponge system and cryptic zones are more than half of the actual systems themselves.

 

[tosiek]

Also, the sponge/filter feeder filter system and the cryptic refuguims from Tyree are best done by someone with a full understanding of whats going on down there. Theres alot more going on than "fill it with sand and rock and viola! instand 0 trates!". If you want to play around with the systems go for it but there are pros and cons to it.

 

[Jkedra]

Also, the sponge/filter feeder filter system and the cryptic refuguims from Tyree are best done by someone with a full understanding of whats going on down there. Theres alot more going on than "fill it with sand and rock and viola! instand 0 trates!". If you want to play around with the systems go for it but there are pros and cons to it.

The only thing that I would be concerned about is the intake. For those who are familiar with the fluval, it has this I think its called the impeller thats the sensitive part...If you fill it up with sand, wouldn't that damage it? And also would everything be taken out including the shelve compartments?

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

yea completely take everything out and the impeller is protected by plastic and its magnetic so if it gets clogged which it probably wont because it doesn't really pick up sand, then you just take it out an clean it.

The only thing that I would be concerned about is the intake. For those who are familiar with the fluval, it has this I think its called the impeller thats the sensitive part...If you fill it up with sand, wouldn't that damage it? And also would everything be taken out including the shelve compartments?

 

[tosiek]

Anthony, for all the problems in your tank that you already caused I would stop thinking of new things and get it set up and super stable for a year on the basics which is really all you need on the tank. Skimmer, sump, main display, carbon/phosban in reactors, weekly water changes, reg dosing schedual according to the needs of the tank.

If you have a nitrate problem its usually because your feeding too much and there is too much waste. Do a water change and feed less and its fixed.

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

i already do that stuff and its very stable. the only problem i had was the temp and ich and its all fixed now. that tanks parameters never change. i test them all the time. and some are on probes for maximum efficiency. but im gonna be tearing it down and restarting completely tomorrow to make everyone happy since everyone keeps saying im doing it completely wrong.

Anthony, for all the problems in your tank that you already caused I would stop thinking of new things and get it set up and super stable for a year on the basics which is really all you need on the tank. Skimmer, sump, main display, carbon/phosban in reactors, weekly water changes, reg dosing schedual according to the needs of the tank.

 

[Jkedra]

Anthony, for all the problems in your tank that you already caused I would stop thinking of new things and get it set up and super stable for a year on the basics which is really all you need on the tank. Skimmer, sump, main display, carbon/phosban in reactors, weekly water changes, reg dosing schedual according to the needs of the tank.

If you have a nitrate problem its usually because your feeding too much and there is too much waste. Do a water change and feed less and its fixed.

But he already has that refugium at the side of his tank, I would think thats good enough...Hes just always looking for new ideas...

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

oh and i have 0 nitrates. like jkedra said im just open to new ideas.

 

[Jkedra]

i already do that stuff and its very stable. the only problem i had was the temp and ich and its all fixed now. that tanks parameters never change. i test them all the time. and some are on probes for maximum efficiency. but im gonna be tearing it down and restarting completely tomorrow to make everyone happy since everyone keeps saying im doing it completely wrong.

Come on, all that work of hypo salinity and all that, and now you wanna start over? :splitspin

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

yea look at my tank thread it explains the whole thing

Come on, all that work of hypo salinity and all that, and now you wanna start over? :splitspin

 

[fishman1069]

Damn dude, you really have to stop takin everything to heart. Nobody is telling you that you were wrong. They are just giving straight up GREAT ADVICE!!! I would take it and stop tryin to look for an easy way out! Its great that you are starting all over, BUT that means your gonna have to wait at least a year before you have a stable enviroment. Just because your done cycling dosent mean s**t! Its cool to post stuff because you want to research it but stop saying that your gonna try this and that because it sounds like a good idea. I never heard og a dark refugium, but because of the stuff tosiek said, I wouldnt even think about trying it untill I read eveything I could and talked to people that have tried before. You trow a post up and in the same day you say" Im gonna do it today" Thats moronic dude!

 

[Jkedra]

yea look at my tank thread it explains the whole thing

Yeah and this whole mix up was a result of that one single sick clown and then starting hypo, then the transport of corals and frags, unfortunately everything died

But now you did all that hypo and you should be fine if you did it right. By the way, whats your current SG?