Adding New Refugium to Existing Tank

Particleman

AC Members
Oct 23, 2004
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Irvine, CA
Need some advise please...I'm about ready to setup my new refugium, it's going to contain for now some mineral mud and live rock but I will be adding some algae in a few weeks. Can I just set it up, plug it in and have it start pumping water in and out of my exisiting tank without to many issues? I'm sorta worried about creating a new cycle or something to that affect. The rock i'm using is fully cured, the tank has been running for about 4 months now. Is it ok to add a refugium after a tank has already been established such as mine?
 
Should be fine. I'd still monitor for ammonia, depending on how the rock was cured, but with an established bed, it would take a huge amount of ammonia to cause much of a spike. What fish do you have in the tank?
 
I have the following...

Sixline Wrasse
Flame Angel
Percula Clown
Royal Gramma

Dozen or so Scarlet Hermit Crabs
Dozen or so Astrea Snails
2 Emerald Crabs
1 Coral Banded Shrimp.

The "mud" wouldnt cause any type of spike right? I just don't want to set this up and have my system go crazy.
 
I've never played around with the mud, but I don't think it contains any organics, does it? If not, it won't cause a nitrogen spike, but may alter some chemistry a bit--I'm really not sure. If it contains buffers, it may slightly raise the pH, and calcium.
 
The only thing I will add here; there is a chance of pathogens/cryptocaryon, etc. getting into your display from the LR. That's why some such as Stephen Pro suggest a quarantine period of 4 weeks, even for LR. To be safest, you could figure a way to allow the fuge to circulate "unlinked" and isolated for a month, which would in theory starve any nasties.
 
Ive got the LR I'm puttin in sitting in the 10Gal Quarentine tank now actually! I think, my plan is to set it up and run it detached from the system for a couple weeks.
 
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I NEED SOME ADVICE. I AM WANTING TO PUT A HANG ON REFIGUIM ON MY 72 GALLON BOW FRONT TANK. I AM INTERESTED IN PURCHASING THE CPR AQUAFUGE 18. DOES ANY ONE HAVE ANY FEEDBACK ON THIS? ALSO I WOULD BE PUTTING MIRACLE MUD FROM ECOSYSTEM IN THE BOTTOM AND WOULD LIKE TO PLANT SOME PLANTS. DO YOU THINK THIS WOULD BE A GOOD BASE? :confused: :confused:
 
I was debating on the aquafuge as well but decide it would be to small to really make a difference in nitrate reduction even using plants for my 55 GAL. I was able to find a sump/refugium setup on ebay that fits under my stand in one of the drawers. Its the Equiv of about a 15gal tank. The biggest Aquafuge hang-on equates to about 6-7 Gals. Everything I read seems to point to the bigger the better for these types of things. I finally got mine up and running last night and couldnt be anymore impressed. Just need to find a place to buy the right kind of plants/algae. Anyways check out EBAY for a search for refugiums, there are some pretty good options out there that are less and more effective then the aquafuge that I found.
 
As PM said, the AquaFuge is small. It will certainly provide a place for pods, worms and mysis to breed, which is one of the main goals of a refugium. When I had a 12" aquafuge, I pulled out large blobs of chaetomorpha regularly, so it will do some good for nitrogen export.
 
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