TheOceanTraveler Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 I have a 29g Oceanic sump. I am thinking of using a hang on back refugeium on my sump. The canopy keeps me from hanging it on the tank. With all the controversy over letting each serve its own purpose I though this might work. Sump would be a sump and refugeium can grow pods and macros for feeding the tank. Alternate the lighting between refugeium and tank. This is my first time with a sump so my head is spinning. I want to have manderine so I need a self sustaining population of pods. What do ya think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nori4dori Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Do you have baffles in your sump? and an area with low flow. That's all you need as a refugium... where you can grow chaeto and your pods can populate. If you don't have enough space, then sure - a HOB refugium can help. But you are adding an extra pump to flow your water through the HOB. If it was me, I would just get a bigger sump with better space management. It would probably cost less than an HOB refugium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheOceanTraveler Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 Yes, there are baffles in the Oceanic sump. Already have the hob so wanted to try to use it. I originally was going to hang it on the tank however the canopy interferes. Flow goes filter sock, skimmer, baffle, return pump. It was set up with the pump in the middle with the skimmer and the refugium on the other side do the baffle, however I like the idea of not having micro bubbles so I moved the pump as the last stage. Hmm like the idea of one less pump. Hmm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madsalt Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 I was able to place chaeto in my sump with the filter socks in the first part of my sump. I found I had enough room and it did not interfere with anything. The chaeto grows great and I see pods all the time swimming around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheOceanTraveler Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 What keeps the pods out of the skimmer? Do they make it up to the tank? I can see having them upstream from the skimmer in terms of getting them fed. Not understanding how they would like the skimmer ride to make it to the tank. Do you manually transfer them to feed to the tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 The skimmer will kill some as well as the pump. Some will make it to the display tank and some won't. I honestly would not do a mandarin in anything less than a 125g. I had pods galore and a refugium chock full of chaeto in my 65 - gallon and mine wasted away slowly over 6 months. They literally eat 1 pod every 10 seconds... it doesn't take long before they start winning the population battle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheOceanTraveler Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 Hmmm, thanks Ty, back to the thinker position for me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 I'm all for reducing complexity, I would just have baffles in your sump and do it there. One less thing to break/maintain. You can periodically take chaeto from your sump full of pods and shake it in the tank, then return it to the sump. Fish love the hunt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nori4dori Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 (edited) Ty is right. Unless you can find a mandarin that eats frozen mysis which is pretty hard to find. It may be something worth trying. Edited January 28, 2015 by mFrame (Mike) removed external link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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