I employ a refugium and reactor in my system. I see benefits in both and with the sump space I have, there is no need for one or the other... they can play nicely together.
I'm honestly contemplating removing all my chaeto and replacing it with a balled up mess of fishing line. That way I get the benefit I desire more from the macro (an area for pods and other critters to call home) but I don't have to worry about dieoff or fragmentation in my tank. Then I will just go a little heavier with the biopellets and GFO to uptake the nutrients. Honestly, the ball of chaeto I have, which is the size of a large turkey, however large, is barely going to pull enough nutrients from my 250 gal water volume to make the effort to keep worth it. Only reason I haven't removed it yet is because of the pod/brittle star farm that it has become now. I'd rather reclaim that space and put my frag tank back online down in the sump. With the inert fishing line, I can push it towards the bottom of the frag rack and not worry about it growing over my frags or not getting enough light to grow. At the same time, it'll be the perfect media to continue the pod/brittle star farm I have in the sump.