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Louis1959
03/08/2015, 03:12 PM
Can I successfully have and maintain an Isolated marine refugium, or does it have to be part of my display system?

smmiller506
03/08/2015, 04:03 PM
How do you mean isolated?

Louis1959
03/08/2015, 04:10 PM
I don't want to tie it into display tank. Stand alone

Dan_P
03/08/2015, 06:17 PM
I don't want to tie it into display tank. Stand alone

You want to have two salt water aquariums, one of which you are calling a refugium. What do you want it to be a refuge for? Or do you just want a separate tank for macroalgae, snails, crabs, etc? The term refugium is typically an aquarium that exchanges water but not (larger) animals with the display tank.

Louis1959
03/08/2015, 07:52 PM
Dan,

Here is my issue.

1) I have a very small living room. So we went with a 54 gallon bow. There is no room under the tank stand. I have a sump under it, but by no means a refugium.

2) I have copipods in my sump which do not seam to make their way up into the main display tank. If they are making their way up i am not seeing them. And they are not reproducing up top.

3) So yea, more of a second tank to create an environment for copipods, and Red mangrove plants , etc.

RocketEngineer
03/08/2015, 08:14 PM
If you want the benefits of the refugium, it has to be tied into the rest of the system. However, there is nothing saying it can't be a separate tank. Some folks have a Display Refugium which either empties into a common sump with the existing display or empties into the display itself. Just make sure that you use gravity to move water down and only use pumps to move water up.

HTH,

Dan_P
03/09/2015, 03:57 AM
Dan,

Here is my issue.

1) I have a very small living room. So we went with a 54 gallon bow. There is no room under the tank stand. I have a sump under it, but by no means a refugium.

2) I have copipods in my sump which do not seam to make their way up into the main display tank. If they are making their way up i am not seeing them. And they are not reproducing up top.

3) So yea, more of a second tank to create an environment for copipods, and Red mangrove plants , etc.

Got it.

The thing that comes to mind is feeding the refugium. I tried growing local macro algae but it did not survive until I added a few fish. Crabs and shrimp did not seem to help. I bet the Internet has useful information.

Good luck!

FraggledRock
03/09/2015, 07:24 AM
just get a HOB refugium.

but unless they are connected, its pointless... unless you want to run two seperate systems...

it may work as two systems if you need to keep pods for any pod eaters and sand sifter...

cloak
03/09/2015, 11:07 AM
Can I successfully have and maintain an Isolated marine refugium, or does it have to be part of my display system?

Lots of people run display tanks that are basically just a big refugium. A bunch of different types of macro algae, tons of micro fauna etc. If it's done right, these tanks are actually quite beautiful.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-01/sl/index.php

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/2/aafeature3

Sk8r
03/09/2015, 11:18 AM
YOu can set it on a nearby shelf or stand and just dip a gallon from one to the other now and again. It would be best not to use an unpowered hose to connect them, because water would possibly go stagnant in such a confined space, but a pump driven line from the sump, say, to the fuge and a gravity drain back via a downflow box would work. Two systems using the same sump is a common situation in your local lfs.

ryeguyy84
03/09/2015, 10:10 PM
Not sure how much room you have but I had a custom made tank made for my fuge. It gets water from the main drain and is gravity fed back to the sump via a "drain". The drain is a uniseal with a pipe through it with an elbow pointing down to make a siphon.
When I first set it up:
http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/o686/ocon2262/78CD7D18-B025-49B9-B42A-1AA571BAB090_zps0q7p8ooj.jpg (http://s1338.photobucket.com/user/ocon2262/media/78CD7D18-B025-49B9-B42A-1AA571BAB090_zps0q7p8ooj.jpg.html)