New refugium concept

[Stipe]

Since i set up my tank i have had a good Ol' fuge running with a ball of cheato. A couple of months ago my light blew and i couldnt get a new one and since i was in a bad mood i couldnt be stuffed to get to the trouble of gettign one. So i gave the cheato to a mate and chucked in some scraps of liverock. Closed the cupboard and thats the last tiem i opened that cabinate for a couple of months ( the sump is in the other room so i doo all my dosing there thats why i didnt need to look into my fuge.

I could see that my water was crystal clear recently and all my corals where almsot double the size and my algae problems ( i had a cyno outbreak) where gone. My corals looked happier and so did my fish and inverts. Later that day i opened up my cupboard and checked on my fuge and to my shock and horrow all the walls where encrusted with these white sponges, hundreds of thousands of them, everywhere. I researched on the internet and foudn ot that sponges pump hundreds of liters per hour of water through thier body's greating the perfect natural filteration.

Since my fuge was in total darkness i guessed that thsi provided the perfect environment for these sponges, and i couldnt be happier. They are happy, my corals are happy and that makes my happy. So for a new fuge idea, skip the cheato and try a all dark sponge tank :).

Happy reefing! oh yeh pics commign soon.

[CPT. MURPHY]

Very interesting! I def want to see pics :)

CPT.

[Blown 346]

The wife will happy, my electric bill will go down some.

[Stipe]

Pics will be here tomorrow, im just too busy. My fuge consited of 4 energy saver bulbs (the spiral ones) so the savigns where small already :).

[Shadowramy]

Steve Tyree was a big one on using these, crypo-zones of total dark refuges to populate sponge colonies. I actually use a split one of these. Top half it lighted with macro, bottom is dark full of sponges.

Keeps the PO4 down and the water clear.

[mr.wilson]

Take a look at Steve Tyrees' web site, he has lots of variations of your sump. http://www.dynamicecomorphology.com/getzoned.htm

I have experienced the same success as yourself. Sometimes you just have to let nature take its' course. I find that adding eggcrate to the sump provides a lattice for the sponges and other benthic invertebrates to grow on. Live rock works, but it has less surface area and doesn't allow the same flow-through.

Take a look at this similar thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=969713.

[Stipe]

wow i checked that thread 2 days ago and it did not have all that, i msut reread it, so while i do it here are some pics to enjoy. For some reason the sponges have died bad ( probarly due to my autotop off failing and my sg being at 1.030 till i relised and then dramaticly ( i never know it would affect it so much) dropped it to 1.026.) but are growign back verry well. I will be putting in alot of eggcrate verry soon to help with that idea of more surface area, thanks. ALso i am goign to re-design ( well jsut get a new fuge) and build that half half fuge you where talking about and i will post alot of pics!!!

oh and sorry if the pics arnt perfect my flash didnt work :(.

[Stipe]

ooooooppppps forgot the pics

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d23/stipe2141/esathdjfhd.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d23/stipe2141/asfdhgfghsd.jpg

[mr.wilson]

It's hard to tell with the pictures. Try these links. http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-07/rs/index.php

http://www.edge-of-reef.com/tunicati/htmen/TUNtunicates.htm

http://www.ascidians.com/

If you follow the scientific websites about tunicates, you can find some coral feeding tricks as well. Argent Labratories has a perfect coral food that has been over-looked by the hobby for years.

[serpentman]

I keep about 50-75lbs of LR in my sump. Last time I move it, I found that it is completely encrusted with white, gray and yellow sponges. Each one is about 6-8" in size. I think they do as much, if not more than my fuge. However, I do like the ability to export nutrients so I keep the fuge running.

[Ryanqk]

yeah they make great filters but are very sensitive to enviromental changes, as you found out. The die off from them can be very bad for water quality, but if you can manage to keep everything very stable sponges and sea squirts are ideal for fuge purposes.