LR in my dark sump have any overall benefit?

[Radioheadx14]

I wAnted a more open aquascape in my 70g cube so i threw the left over live rock in my sump. The sump is only 15 gallon, a section for my skimmer and the larger return section with my heaters and return pump.. And liverock. I have it filled with live rock. Does having lr in a dark sump have any benefit, or will it just collect ditritus? I keep my return flow pretty low so there isnt a huge amount of water flowing through.

Should i scrap the rock for something else or just add a cfl light on reverse cycle (even tho there is no room for chaeto)

[wireefman]

ive run cryptic zones in sumps... mainly for sponge growth as they will help filter your tank water... so yes there is benifit... is it nessacary.. no

[Radioheadx14]

I dont think enough sponges coukd fit in my 16"x12"x7.5" return section to have a significant impact.

[tritonman]

I've actually wondered the same thing. Similar situation as you, cleared out my tank a bit and threw some extra live rock in my sump (roughly 15lbs - no light or chaeto). I figured it can't hurt, but not sure if it'll be helpful or not.

[Radioheadx14]

Well at first i was thinking it couldnt hurt, but maybe the amount of detritus it builds outweighs the filtering capabilities? Maybe i should ditch most of the rock and start a chaeto farm with minimal lr. My fish might like the increase in biodeversity. The wrasse and flame hawk pretty mich wiped the dt clean or any bugs

[tritonman]

Not a bad idea. I'd be curious to hear other thoughts. I've got a 3rd section that I'm not using right now. Been tossing around ideas of a deep sand bed, chaeto, etc. I've never had too much of a nitrate/algae problem in my tank, so that's why I haven't pushed for the chaeto yet.

[Radioheadx14]

Only problem is that im scared that i might not have enough LR. Then again, i have corals that like dirtier water, i do weekly water changes and a skimmer. The lr thats down there is pretty dense. Maybe i should just put a light over it for pod reproduction?

[tritonman]

I've looked into getting a refugium light. Pretty cheap, so that's another route. Weekly water changes and a skimmer should keep your nitrates pretty low (unless your grossly overfeeding). Ideally, I think we should both leave the live rock and throw a chaeto/light combo in there, but I'm not the expert on sumps.

[Radioheadx14]

I have 0 room for any algae to grow. I had to shove smaller LR pieces next to my skimmer, haha.

[wireefman]

imo/ime that small of a refugium would serve no purpose. refugiums roughly need to be 50% of your tanks volume to serve a useful purpose..

[pledosophy]

On my 125g system I have a 65g tank that has about 180 lbs of LR in it with no light. I have a modded maxijet pushing the water around to get the water moving through the rocks.

I like the extra water volume and the rocks do contain bacteria for filtration, which is I am sure helpful with my feeding schedule these days. I also have a seperate refugium.

[ianjirka]

Well at first i was thinking it couldnt hurt, but maybe the amount of detritus it builds outweighs the filtering capabilities? Maybe i should ditch most of the rock and start a chaeto farm with minimal lr. My fish might like the increase in biodeversity. The wrasse and flame hawk pretty mich wiped the dt clean or any bugs

Is it a BB sump?

If you've packed it in so you can't blow out/vaccum out -- probalby will be a detritus farm. I took out my DSB in my fuge and replaced it with [more] LR. Easier to clean, IMHO. I kept it open and have two small PHs alternating to keep water moving. Still lots of interesting life, but relatively easy to siphon the gunk out.

I blast around there with a PH about once a week as well (same as DT)

All that has lights above it.

I have another section that's darker and has some medium-sized colanders with live rock rubble in them. THey grow mostly sponges but collect detritus but get shaken out at least once a week and vaccumed. It's not all that much more work during a water change.

FWIW :-)

[Ron Reefman]

imo/ime that small of a refugium would serve no purpose. refugiums roughly need to be 50% of your tanks volume to serve a useful purpose..

I think you are looking at it the wrong way. Almost any refugium is better than none. You may need a big one to do all that you may want it to do, but any macro algae and maybe even a DSB is going to help. I have a 50g refugium and both a 180g DT and a 70g nem tank plumbed into it. That's about 20% of the size of my DT's and it works great. It takes care of all my nitrates and phosphates.

To the OP, I have quite a bit of LR in my sump. I believe that the bacteria we want on our LR does NOT need much, if any, light to stay alive. If I'm wrong about that, somebody please tell me.

[Radioheadx14]

Its a barebottom section. I think i might remove on of the larger rocks and put in a light and little ball of algae. If anything, maybe it will be enough to grow some pods. Does chaeto significantly change alk/ calcium levels? I tend to run a low maintenance tank, easy corals, no water testing, quick 5g water changes. A majority of my LR has been in my tank(s) for several years.

[ejdustin]

The beneficial bacteria we want growing on our rock does not need light so having it in a dark sump is fine. The bacteria will grow and help your filtration just as if it were in your display. To reduce the detritus going there just use a sock.

[Radioheadx14]

I think I might ditch one o the newer pieces of dry rock I added last fall and to make room for some algae. It guess it wont pull a significant amount of nitrates and phosphates, but some is better than none. maybe I'll put a small koralia in there too two keep things from settling. I have way to much detritus build up.

[asonitez]

what about pods. can pods grow down there and breed easily?

[billdogg]

In my larger system (150DT, 120 fuge, 50 sump)I keep the majority of the LR in the refugium and sump. I cannot keep much rock in the DT even if i wanted too because it's primary inhabitant is a 4' moray who can and does move rocks around until HE is happy with where they are. To avoid a broken tank, therefore, I was compelled to keep the LR someplace else.

Pods will grow anywhere - they don't need the light, and in fact, seem to prefer the darkness. Take a look in your DT at night with a red lense (cellophane works well for this) and you will see them scurrying around everywhere.


IMO and IME, more LR = better biological filtration = happier/more stable system. I say put it wherever there is otherwise unused space.