refugium substrate?

[doughboy979]

hi guys, i've been browsing the board for awhile now but this is my first post. i have a 55 gallon reef set up for about two years now and everything was going well until recently when i started getting yucky algae growth again. so i decided to go ahead and add a 10 gallon refugium to my 20 gallon sump. my sump is basically a 20 gallon glass tank sitting under the main tank. i plan on using a couple U tubes to transfer the water from the sump to the refugium. i ordered a 36watt PC for the refugium lighting and was wondering what i should use for the substrate. i would only be using the refugium to help absorbe excess nutrients. i have a turboflotor running and it was doing fairly well until recently. thank you for all your comments.

 

[Anonymous]

I'd be careful with the U tubes I think it's not going to be that reliable. I'd drill at least the refugium and elevate it so the bulkhead and plumbing spills over into your sump.

For a substrate you don't treat it any different than you would a main tank. i.e. usually a dsb of fine grain sands. If you could obtain REAL oceanic mud (I think Gulf-View sells some) that would be okay too.

 

[doughboy979]

yeah i know it's not reliable (had some flooding before) but it's a glass tank so i can't really drill a glass tank, or would prefer not to. are there any other options i can persue?

 

[doughboy979]

alright back to the substrate topic, so basically any sort of substrate would be ok? i take it it is also better to have a variety of plants growing in the refugium rather than one?

 

[Anonymous]

Go with a larger aquarium and section it off by siliconing in a bulkhead of acrylic or glass or purchasing a HOT refugium like the CPR AquaFuges.