Fuge And Frag Tanks

[Pipes]

Hey everyone. Going on the premise that the only stupid question is the one you don't ask, here goes... There seems to be a huge gap in my reference material. Every book I own or borrow, mentions the existence of the refugium and the frag tank, but doesn't go into any details.
What exactly do you put in your fuges, and how do you set them up? What is the ideal set up? and why / why not use them?
Then next question, the frag tank, what is the best way to grow the frags? and then transplant them onto the LR? I've seen the plugs but is there another way?
I realize that there are positives and negatives to every thing but there must be some fool proof plans that every one has experienced.
As far as basics go, I am a-ways off from setting up a 150 - 220 gal tank but without knowledge I'm doomed. They say you can make things idiot proof, till they make a better idiot. I don't plan on crashing my system in favor of a learning curve. So, once my "ducks are in a row" I plan on having a respectable sized sump, possibly a fuge. and possibly put frags somewhere that will safely help them grow till they can be moved.
So hit me with your best advice.
Thanks in advance.

 

[heath]

that a lot of questions but there are some great and very experienced reefers here that will be more than happy to answer all of your questions..good luck, you will have it down pat in no time with your profession..

 

[TORX]

Hey everyone. Going on the premise that the only stupid question is the one you don't ask, here goes... There seems to be a huge gap in my reference material. Every book I own or borrow, mentions the existence of the refugium and the frag tank, but doesn't go into any details.
What exactly do you put in your fuges, and how do you set them up? What is the ideal set up? and why / why not use them?
Then next question, the frag tank, what is the best way to grow the frags? and then transplant them onto the LR? I've seen the plugs but is there another way?
I realize that there are positives and negatives to every thing but there must be some fool proof plans that every one has experienced.
As far as basics go, I am a-ways off from setting up a 150 - 220 gal tank but without knowledge I'm doomed. They say you can make things idiot proof, till they make a better idiot. I don't plan on crashing my system in favor of a learning curve. So, once my "ducks are in a row" I plan on having a respectable sized sump, possibly a fuge. and possibly put frags somewhere that will safely help them grow till they can be moved.
So hit me with your best advice.
Thanks in advance.

Look at the publish dates on the books lol. People have moved away from refugiums and towards chemical replacements such as GFO and bio pelletes. Some people still run fuges, but you do not have to.

Most people just break the stem off the frag plug and glue it right to the rock. If it has not encrusted too much, some people cut the frag off the plug and glue it down. I have also seen people that drill holes in their rock prior to the set up so that when things are ready, they can just glue the plug in the holes.

 

[Kman]

I myself run a productive fug and dedicated 3 feet of my 110 g sump for this purpose as it adds to the food web and processes nutrients very well. I like the more natural methods of processing nutrients then chemicals offer. I still use GFO and other chemical options as a extra addition but I prefer the fug to do most of my heavy lifting. Established refugiums are very efficient at processing waste and as you harvest macro algae it is a form of nutrient export. As the algae grows it releases spore's and the phytoplankton in turn fed upon by Zooplankton. The Zooplankton and Phytoplankton are a nutritious live food source for your fish and corals. If you support the food web it will reward you with a healthy thriving reef. If you look at the big colonies of corals in my tank this is why, I actually add little extra food for my coral except from time to time.

Chemicals like GFO do work great at binding Phosphates from the water but add little to the tank other then that. Things like bio pellets do work great but require tinkering to get the levels right and take time to fully kick in. If you use the bio pellets you have to mess around with clumping nonsense and have to tinker with proper flow and cleaning. If to much bio pellets are used it will cause a bad algae bloom in your aquarium. But they do work. They pissed me off so much from the clumping all the time I took them off. I switched to NitraGuard as a better option.

Each filtering option has its plus\negative sides and byproducts. You need to cover all the basics of chemical, mechanical and biological filtration so you will have a properly balanced way of processing nutrients and keeping your water clean. Coupled with water changes of course.

 

[Pipes]

Do you have any pictures of your fuge? What is the algae growing on? The other thing that some have advised, is to have the fuge feed the display and then others say to have the display feed the fuge. I like the idea of a chemical free system.

 

[EricTMah]

A little background on what you're planning on keeping in the system.

I use chaeto and mangroves in my fuge with a deep sand bed and some live rock. Chaeto doesn't need anything to attach to.

My system feeds my sump/fuge. But I do not run any type of mechanical filtration after my fuge to my circulation pump. To allow any micro organisms to be able to be pumped back into my main system.



Sony Xperia Z3

 

[Kman]

Do you have any pictures of your fuge? What is the algae growing on? The other thing that some have advised, is to have the fuge feed the display and then others say to have the display feed the fuge. I like the idea of a chemical free system.

I will look for some pictures or take some. I grow caulerpa in my sump but I have a nano tank and I grow both caulerpa and chaeto in it. I am like Eric and don't run any mechanical filtration on the way back into my main system.

What do you want to keep in your system?

 

[Pipes]

Okay. So my thoughts so far are: A tank 0f at least 150 - 220 gallons, A fuge 3 - 4 feet long, a 50 gal sump with skimmer and more LR, 30 gal. quarantine tank, and probably a 60 gal mix tank. Three independent mini reefs in the display tank. All heated with radient pex tubing, with internal thermostats. This will be a display tank for my shop/office (Full wright off, as it is in my place of business). I was considering elongating my fuge and splitting it down the middle so as to have fuge on one side and frag tank on the other.
I would like to have: A school of chromies, 1 or more yellow tangs if possible ( I know they grow up to be aggressive, but in a 220 should they not have enough room?) Other smaller non-aggressive species, some cleaners. Then a collection of the more beautiful SPS, LPS, and softies.

 

[Pipes]

What are some of the better species of algae ( Macro ?) that are good for feeding to herbivores?

 

[scubasteve]

what kman said lol

ill post some pics of mine when i get home my fuge is actually fairly small but very effective i also use a algae scrubber as well and only media i use is carbon (i have phosban on hand just incase phosphates creep up) in my sump baffles i allow the sponge to grow which helps with phosphates more than you would think. my display exits into my scrubber (coated in green hair algae) then through bio balls(helps keep it quiet) over baffles past the skimmer and media reactor then swirls through my fuge over to the return pump. My fuge has 9 mangroves in it with lots of chaeto and caulerpa.

As for just how effective they are check my 90 gal tank thread for the last time i did a water change

If you go the fuge route make sure to read up on different types of macro algae, algae scrubbers and deep sand beds. Lights are cheap pretty well any home depot grow bulb will work quite well even regular light bulbs do decent

 

[Pipes]

thanks