OK I'm looking to upgrade my filtration. I'm NOT sure of the differences between a sump and a fuge other than a fuge uses algae and you need a light on it preferrably on while your tank lights are off. Now besides that difference what IS the diference between them and their filtering? I don't wanna buy something that I'm gona have to replace ( like I'm doing now). PLEASE let me know what you guy/gals think about this and use.
Fuge or sump????
- Thread starter taat2d
- Start date
- Location
- poughquag, ny
sump
they are basically the same, the real differance is what you decide to put in it. example i have my skimmer and about 40 lb's of lr and some cheato sp ? in mine
they are basically the same, the real differance is what you decide to put in it. example i have my skimmer and about 40 lb's of lr and some cheato sp ? in mine
Do you HAVE to run a light for the cheato? I know the cheato is good to keep phosphates down and that's what I'd like to do myself, but I can't run lights 24/7.
- Location
- Franklin Lakes, NJ
A sump and a fuge are 2 totally different things, although a fuge can be incorporated into a sump.
A sump is a place to store your equipment, heaters, pumps, skimmer, etc.
so that it doesn't take up room in the tank. By itself, it provides no filtration, although the added water volume can help with system stability.
A fuge or refugium, provides a predator free area for growing beneficial algae, pods, etc. and often allows you to keep a remote deep sand bed and additional live rock.
A sump can be built with a chamber used as a fuge, but it must be lit for at least some time in order to allow growth of the critters and algae. Generally people light their fuge 24 hours a day or on a schedule opposite their main lights to help mitigate ph swing, but this is not necessary, and you can use the same lighting schedule on your fuge as on your main tank.
A sump is a place to store your equipment, heaters, pumps, skimmer, etc.
so that it doesn't take up room in the tank. By itself, it provides no filtration, although the added water volume can help with system stability.
A fuge or refugium, provides a predator free area for growing beneficial algae, pods, etc. and often allows you to keep a remote deep sand bed and additional live rock.
A sump can be built with a chamber used as a fuge, but it must be lit for at least some time in order to allow growth of the critters and algae. Generally people light their fuge 24 hours a day or on a schedule opposite their main lights to help mitigate ph swing, but this is not necessary, and you can use the same lighting schedule on your fuge as on your main tank.
- Location
- The Big City
A sump is more than just a place to store your equipment, or to increase your water volume. A sump is a place where you have water breakage which help with gas exchange in the tank, release of Co2 for the water and an increase in Oxygen. Some people even keep live rock in the sump.
Basically a sump is the wet part of a wet/dry system.
Basically a sump is the wet part of a wet/dry system.
OK so is a sump with LR enough of a filtration system? Does the LR need lighting, or should it be fully submerged? I'm still confused as to switch type set up will be beter for my tank. What i'm getting to is how successful can my tank be IF I choose to with just LR, my skimmer and NO macro algae?
- Location
- Franklin Lakes, NJ
It can be very successful with neither a sump or fuge. Just make sure you do your water changes.
I religiously do weekly water changes. Right now I'm using Pro Clear Aquatics 125 wet/dry. The demensions are 20x9.5x12, or so. I'm wanting something a lil bigger and with seperate area for my skimmer, and a seperate area for my return pump.
You can do a couple of different things at this point..you can do a search on here and you'll see a bunch of different sumps & fuges that the members have on their tanks..
or..you can go to this site
http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html
and melt your brain while learning the difference & maybe finding a design you like that will work for you!!
Good luck!
or..you can go to this site
http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html
and melt your brain while learning the difference & maybe finding a design you like that will work for you!!
Good luck!
- Location
- Greenpoint Brooklyn, NY
Your right. I've seen plenty of beautiful tanks that don't use cheato or a fuge. Will it hurt your setup adding one? probably not. Its just a way to export bad stuff (teknical term) out of your tanks by utilizing growth of macroalgae and increasing your biological filter in the tank with extra substrate and some LR rubble and stuff. If your doing weekly water changes you should be taking out enough of the bad stuff out of the water along with a good skimmer. You can have all the toys in the world hooked up to your tank but great husbandry wins over all.
Someone forgot to mention that sumps help keep the water level in your tank stable.
Beautiful picture. Very nice tank. :Yikes:
Someone forgot to mention that sumps help keep the water level in your tank stable.
Beautiful picture. Very nice tank. :Yikes:
- Location
- Greenpoint Brooklyn, NY
The tanks so clean...... :thrash: I'm amazed. Who's your maid?
sump thread.. not very big but it has some pics and may be usefull.
I use both for my tank. The sump is good because I can stroe my equipment (skimmer, heater, pumps) and add more water volume to my 100 gallon tank.
For a fuge I have a hang on, on the back. I was never ablle to keep my nitrates down even with rigorous water changes untill I incorporated a refugium. Now I have about 8 well fed fish and almost untraceable nitrates and phosphates after the fuge addition as well have lots of copepods swimming around my tank. I still do water changes, roughly 20% a month.
my opinion I think if your doing a reef with a decent amount of fish it will make your life easier, well at least did so for me
For a fuge I have a hang on, on the back. I was never ablle to keep my nitrates down even with rigorous water changes untill I incorporated a refugium. Now I have about 8 well fed fish and almost untraceable nitrates and phosphates after the fuge addition as well have lots of copepods swimming around my tank. I still do water changes, roughly 20% a month.
my opinion I think if your doing a reef with a decent amount of fish it will make your life easier, well at least did so for me
- Location
- Howell, NJ
i dunno i use to have cheato in my sump (it had its own compartment i just couldnt get it to grow) so i tossed it... now i have an empty spot which i just might put sand in there for more filtration and bacteria development :scratch:
I read an article in Coral mag about fuge's. The article recommended using cheato instead of calerpa, saying that the cheato is easier to grow. the article also stated that too much time will be spent trimming and taking care of the calerpa, and that the micor orgamisms that you want to grow will have a harder time growning cuz your hands'll be in the fuge too often. It also said that cheato is a low light algae. And what I found to be the best part of the article was that it suggested that using a fuge makes for a more eco type system growing natural foods, and natural filtration as opposed to HAVING to add things to the system to achieve the same results. So I think I'm gonna try to fuge route.
- Location
- The Big City
The biggest reason people us cheato instead of calerpa is that Calerpa grows very fast and can go asexually and then start to die off. This die off can make your refug/sump into a time bomb that can kill everything in your tank.
Ok thanx for that info. I didn't know that. What is the minimum amount of lighting time that you need for a fuge?
- Location
- The Big City
Most people just run a regular plant bulb over it. You can also run a small PC light or get one of those clip on type lights, that HD sells.
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