Sump, Refugium or both??

[dradttg]

Dear all,

Keeps hearing about sump and refugium.

What are they used for and which is more important?

Thank you.

[terryansimon]

there is no such thing as more important or less important.

it depends on your individual preference and which one you want.

did you do any read up on the following? I sure hope you did. (=

[hamannbmw]

U can have both.........a refugium in the sump..

[SharkBait]

Dear all,

Keeps hearing about sump and refugium.

What are they used for and which is more important?

Thank you.

A sump is just a container that shares water with your main tank.Its benefit is that it adds to your total water volume and its a place to hide all those unsightly equipments.

A refugium is just like how it sounds, a refuge for pods and macro algae to reproduce without predation from your LS.Most of us would be using it for nutrient export whereby we grow and harvest macro algae.It is an extremely efficient way to get rid of those high nitrate levels.

[dradttg]

Thanks Sharkbait.

Does the size of the sump matter? If yes, what is the ratio like?

[Air]

A sump is just a container that shares water with your main tank.Its benefit is that it adds to your total water volume and its a place to hide all those unsightly equipments.

A refugium is just like how it sounds, a refuge for pods and macro algae to reproduce without predation from your LS.Most of us would be using it for nutrient export whereby we grow and harvest macro algae.It is an extremely efficient way to get rid of those high nitrate levels.

i think a possibility of being a mechanical & biological filter, refugium and DSB are also the ++ of a sump.

[JL27AY]

Hi,

May i noee what u mean by harvesting the algae?? How does it he,p in reducing nritrates??

Any links for mi to read up on this..

Tks

[terryansimon]

go search around the forum regarding macroalgae.

if I'm not wrong, macroalgae consumes NO3 for its diet. or something along those lines. or maybe they absorb it. you have to cultivate it over time, as in prune the damn thing, as it may actually release the NO3 back into the water if the older shoots die off.

thats my five cents worth. it may not be true, so don't accuse me of anything

[Hondace]

talking about marcoalgae - how do we cultivate it?

[terryansimon]

talking about marcoalgae - how do we cultivate it?

by pruning aka cutting aka snipping of the old shoots and letting the new shoots grow?

[SharkBait]

Thanks Sharkbait.

Does the size of the sump matter? If yes, what is the ratio like?

As big as possible. Since it adds to your total water volume, no point having a small sump I would like to add on to the usage of the sump.Its really up to you to decide what you want to incorporate into it.You can also incorporate a refugium into the sump if you have the space.

[dradttg]

As big as possible. Since it adds to your total water volume, no point having a small sump I would like to add on to the usage of the sump.Its really up to you to decide what you want to incorporate into it.You can also incorporate a refugium into the sump if you have the space.

Thanks Sharkbait. I will try to incorporate that when I build a new tank.

[tigershark]

as what i know, sump and refugium is the same thing, the only thing is just the positioning of these tank....

sump is placed at the lower level than the main tank and no hole is needed to be drilled on the sump as the overflow from the main tank will lead the water to the sump. After going thru a few proccess of filtration- Mechanical, chemical and /or biological filtration, the water will then be pump back to the main tank.

As for Refugium, it it actually placed on a higher level than the main tank. Water will pump up from the main tank to the refugium and after going thru the filtration proccess, it will flow back to the mian tank thru the overflow in the refugium.

refugium/sump are not necessary setup for the filtration purpose only, it could be use to keep a certain species of invert which is not suitable to be place in the main tank... eg, seahorse cannot be kept with those fishes which swim fast like demsel... so the owner might want to keep the seahorse in a compartment in the sump/refugium to separate it from the others...

both setup are actually more or less the same. It will actually depends on the needs of the tank owner, eg, I have a main tank which does'nt have a pre-drilled hole but I want to add in another tank which is possible for me to increase the capability of my filtration system + increase the total water volume + put in all my protein skimmer, UV, dripper etc everything together.... I will then add a refugium which does'nt require me to drill a hole on my existing tank which is quite a big project...

[terryansimon]

technically, a sump can be placed anywhere. (= as long as you're willing to put a pump in the main tank to drive water against the flow of gravity *if you position your sump above the tank or somewhere far away* and a return pump from the sump.

a sump is like an exposed canister filter, only better. (=

a refugium on the other hand, implies a hiding ground for micro organisms, macroalgae that are in refuge from the main tank which may host predators. hence the term refugium. the refugium's main design was to faciliate removal of NO3 and to cultivate a form of planktom *I think. maybe wrong spelling somemore. * for your tank inhabitants to makan. (=

so technically, these two are not the same.

[tigershark]

technically, a sump can be placed anywhere. (= as long as you're willing to put a pump in the main tank to drive water against the flow of gravity *if you position your sump above the tank or somewhere far away* and a return pump from the sump.

a sump is like an exposed canister filter, only better. (=

a refugium on the other hand, implies a hiding ground for micro organisms, macroalgae that are in refuge from the main tank which may host predators. hence the term refugium. the refugium's main design was to faciliate removal of NO3 and to cultivate a form of planktom *I think. maybe wrong spelling somemore. * for your tank inhabitants to makan. (=

so technically, these two are not the same.

hmm.... i really lose my faith on those old bird that tell me all short of wrong stuff.... btw, thanks terryansimon for the correction..