refugium
 

Ok, I know your out there.
Has anyone set-up a Aquaclear 500 for a refugium?? Looking for the pros & cons of using this. Space is limited & I have a 72 bowfront up & running for 5 months now.
Thanks

Dwight

i'm running an a/c 300 (didnt leave enough space between the tank and the wall for an a/c500)
i think it helps. im sure lots will indicate the volume of water isnt alot to be most beneficial but i think it helps.
i run cheato, lr and live sand


rob

I run an AC500 & grow cheato in it.Temporary fix because even a AC500 is small for a true fuge compared to the 50g I have waiting to be connected. For a smaller reef tank it should be fine. Every little bit helps & my cheato grows well in it.

I'm interested in this also, I don't have a spot to put a fuge, but an ac 300 or 500 wouldn't be too tough.

I'd be worried about the extra 5-10lbs hanging on the back of my tank, since I already have a big hood sitting on top of it as well...

I have an AC500 that I "modded" into a fuge on the back of my 10G. It fills almost the whole tank but works well. I have LR and chaeto in mine.

I am going with an AC300 on my 37 cube - only becuase with the HOB skimmer there is not enough room for the AC500.

Greg

the amount of cheato you can grow in an ac-300/500 is virtually usless in any sort of nutrient export. you really need something larger.

But if you don't have the space/ability to do a bigger/proper 'fuge; the acuaclear mod is better than nothing wouldn't you say?

nope, i would just grow cheato in your display behind the rockwork. i have seen a couple of tanks like this and it grows the cheato really well.

Will the chaeto just stay in a ball and not spread around if I do that? I'm game to give it a try in my new tank if you've had luck with it.

Whether that is the case or not, it does help. 10 times the amount is typical but for 10 times larger systems often so its the same ratio if a 300/500 is used on a mini reef 10-30G. Anyway, the HOB fuge is nice for growing pods as well and also for surface aeration if you don't have an overflow. More reasons to have one than to not just because of its limited size.

That's my $0.02. And yes, I have an AC300 on my 33g and I have mostly halimedia sp. in it as well as in the main display. Helps the pod population otherwise for my blennies.

it will just grow out in a big mat which is fine, as long as it's sucking up nutrients.

A good refugium should be the same size as the display tank. Refugium is a place to grow pods, or algaes etc, I used to keep 4 cleaner shrimp in my 40 gallon refugium and with all the larvae they put out my main tank got lots of food. Another thing with a refugium is, if you can, put it on an alternating light cycle, IE when your main tank is dark have your refugium lights on.

Keeping a refugium this size isn't practical for most people, I was lucky to have the room but I don't have it now. I'm considering a 15 gallon refugium over my 54 but I'm not sure I want to go that route.

Doug

I have a 23g sump/fuge over my 75g tank. There is about a 7-8 gallon section blocked off for heaters and skimmer, the rest is a fuge with LR, Cheato, and grape caulerpa. Before I tore it down, I had an insane amount of pod growth in there.... I had copepods, amphipods, zooplankton, mysid shrimp, etc... breeding it it. I have an interesting overflow setup and thus it allows pods to flow down into the tank more easily. I also found the nutrient export slightly beneficial since before I had a really bad skimmer, haha. I still wish I could have gone with a bigger fuge for more algae growing space.

Chris