Refugium/Sump

I cant figure it out... Whats the difference between a sump and a refugium... I only have a 30 gallon (i think) and am slowly gettin ready to change it to Reef... I have a fluval 204...

I still havnt decided if I need a Portein Skimmer but will probly get one eventually... So anyways is a refugium jsut a place to grow beneficial bacteria and things like that to help the tank? If I were to get a Skimmer could I hook it up to the refugium instead? Thanks

[Matt Rogers]

Sump is mainly to hold hardware that would otherwise be in your tank.

A refugium is an isolated area that allows things to grow without getting eaten by fish, etc.. in the main tank. It also can act as a filter providing denitrification if it has a sand bed and oxygen/Co2 if it has plants growing in it.

I has seen refugiums with dividers to allow for some hardware such as a protein skimmer.

hope that helps!

I want to load a picture that I made with "Paint" but I think the only way to do it is if its on a website... ANyways I have an Idea!!!

I could have my Fluval drwaing water from my main tank and the return line would go to the 10 gallon underneath...It would have plants, sand, protein skimmer, etc.

and I could hvae a powerhead pulling/pushing water back into main tank (I think the only hard part owuld be having a powerhead that has the exact same gallosn per hour or I would get a overflowed ond empty tank or both!)

Please help me I still have alot of reading to do! If anyone can suggest some easy reading!

thanks everyoen!

[Matt Rogers]

The double power head combo is a flood waiting to happen.
Get a prefilter/overflow and use that to drain into your refugium and a powerhead or sump pump to return it.

You can upload photos if you become a 3reef member.

^^^ bump.

first using any hagen product on a reef tanks is a bad idea!!! second on a reef tank you must have alot of biological filtration to break down the bio-load. to keep a reef tank healthy and happy as well as keeping your water peramiters good you must have a wet-dry filteration. a fluval 204 have minimal bio filtration because minimal air gets into the canister. if you use something liek a penguin or an emperor you will get good biological fiteration. back to the question.
sumps- supms are a type of filteration baised around biological filteration(wich is the best thing to use on a reef tank). the sump sits underneath the tank and usualy drains through holes in the bottom of the tank or is gravity fed to the sump and returnd to the tank by a pump. i have use a sump system for a bout 5 years now. i have a 480 gallon shark tank with a standerd all-glass 120 tank as my sump... some people say that its way to big... and i agree for the simpler reason the nitrates where horible in my tank till i found out about a refugium.
refugium- a seperate tank the usualy has plants sand and sometimes inverts and a fish in it. one of the main things that the refugium is for is to reduce the amount of nitrates in the tank. when i set up my 65 gallon refugium about 3 weeks lator i noticed that my sharks and my groupers were happier because i didnt have anymore nitrates. also as i said you can have invers or even fish in the refugium!!! in my 480 gallon tank i have a black tip reef shark, banded shark, miniatis grouper and a greysby grouper. i also have some angels and a few tangs(sometimes my sharks get greedy and eat them). anyways if i had any shrimps or small fish in the tank they would for sure get eatin!!! so i keep a colony of about 29 blood shrimp and 2 pairs of coral banded reef shrimp in the refugium as well as a juvinal queen angel and a juvinal french angel.
i would personaly tell you to use a sump thats like 5-10 gallons and like a refugium about the same size.

time to feed that sharks if you want anymore information email me at mebrandonc@hotmail.com

I use a 14 gallon rubbermaid tub with a gravity feed return back to the sump. Works well and was very cheap to make.

[Jason McKenzie]

[quote author=Brandon Cheong link=board=Refugium;num=1064435917;start=0#5 date=10/10/03 at 11:52:22]first using any hagen product on a reef tanks is a bad idea!!! second on a reef tank you must have a lot of biological filtration to break down the bio-load. *to keep a reef tank healthy and happy as well as keeping your water parameters good you must have a wet-dry filtration. *a fluval 204 have minimal bio filtration because minimal air gets into the canister. if you use something like a penguin or an emperor you will get good biological filtration. back to the question.
[/quote]
I hate to disagree but would have to say. *I'm running 4 Hagan PH in my tank for over a year now. *I've never had a problem with them. *More importantly a wet/dry Filter is not necessary in a reef aquarium and most would advise against it. *They have a tendency to produce mass amounts of Nitrates. *Now for a Fish Only tank I would say wet/dry is a must because of the higher bio-load. *Live Rock, sand bed, and proper maintenance (water Changes) should be all that is needed to take care of the Bio-load in a reef system.
If a filter is required I would stick with the fuval because of the lack of O2 getting in. *This allows for nitrate eating organisms that live in O2 deficient environments to flourish. *I use a Fuval *but I only hook it up once or twice a year to run some carbon.

J

[SpecailEd]

How important is having a refugium / sump? Im running my 90 gallon with out one.. only live rock and a skimmer thats for upto 120 gallons, and i have two power heads in oposite cornors, i get good water movement. Is the refugium just another filtering device, that is optional, or do you guys feel it is more of a must have?

[Jason McKenzie]

SE, I am in the same boat as you. I do have a sump though.
Sumps serve a very important function as far as I'm concerned, they hid your heaters, Skimmer, and any think else you need but don't want in the Display tank. Many people will put some LR or even Sand in there Sump. This would make it a Ref/Sump Combo.
A Refugium is another spot to further break down aspects of the Nitrogen Cycle. Usually the focus of a Fug is to break down Nitrates by the use of Macro Algae, like Calp. Even Mangrove Pods are grown in a Refugium. I don;t feel it is a must and not having one I'm not sure of how usefully they are. But what ever can increase the total water volume and export Nitrates has to be good one would think

J