New(bie) 'fuge!!

I decided to try making a refugium to go along with my DIY sump (that hopefully I'll get to start building tomorrow! ;D) since all I could fit in my narrow 55 gal stand was a 10 gal tank to make a sump out of. I got a 5 gal rubbermade container that can sit on the shelf above the sump to make a 'fuge out of. basically I'll just tee off the overflow down-pipe with a valve into the refugium, then a bulkhead out to flow down into the sump. by my guesstimates it should work.
ok now for my real question...what is best to put in it to start a brand new 'fuge??? sand or mud? live rock? will the beneficial organisms and stuff just start growing in there, or do I need to "plant" them there?
thanks for all the help here! oh yeah, and let me know if you think my setup will work with the fuge and sump!

 

ok I made a quick, rough drawing of what I had invisioned for the 'fuge/sump setup. let me know what you think.



just so you know, this drawing is not to scale. and the water level in a fuge probably won't be as high as what I made it look like in the drawing. lol

 

That should work perfectly. I would put macro algae in your fuge. You should be able to fit plenty of live rock in your DT. Macro algae gives benefits that live rock cannot so don't take up space with rock. You could use sand or mud or nothing.

 

That looks like a pretty good set up to me. As for your fuge, I would put live sand, live rock, and macro algae with a light and in time it will become alive and be very beneficial to your tank.

 

how do you get macro algae? is it something you can buy at the local fish store or does it start growing naturally over time?

 

its something you buy. Its basically a plant that will keep your nitrates in check. the most common macro i can think of is cheato and or mangroves. Go to reefcleaners.org to take a look

 

how much lighting will you need for the fuge?
im new at this.

 

I run like a 15 watt, 5700k bulb from menards or home depot. the bulb says 15 but it is the equivlent of like 75 i think. you would either run this fuge light on a reverse schedule of your display lights or 24x7. that you decision though.