Refugium/ skimmer

Clay or miracle mud is used for trace elements that will leach into the water. So ya....$50 buck for a couple of inches of Miracle mud, or $5 for a bag of unscented, unanything clay kitty litter.

Sand you want fine sand. Oolitic sand. You could top it off with live sand. When I did mine, I was inpatient. Had to have "this" stuff right away. Well I later saw it much much cheaper, and I wasted money on live sand. so again... I paid close to $100 bucks for fuge mud, small things of sand, live sand and some more sand.

You could probably spend $30 on a kitty litter and a big bulk bag of oolitic sand. Impatience is expensive. 2" of clay, topped with 2-3" of sand.

 

so the kitty litter is similar to the miracle mud? are there different types of kitty litter? any type that would be dangerous for the tank?
thanks to everyone for all the input. this info is very useful.

 

I went everywhere and could not find any. Other people had no problem. Unscented.... and my problem was reading all the bags of clay kitty litter...they said something to the effect of anti bacterial, or what ever, so I was afraid it had some sort of bad stuff in it. All I wanted was just plain jane unscented generic clay kitty litter. Perhaps others will chime in and say if the anti bacterial is bad or not.

Miracle Mud is outrageously expensive. There is some sort of magic pixie dust sprinkled on some top secret voodoo enhanced "stuff". I got some "fuge mud" from... I want to say Kent that was half the price, but still expensive. You don't need it. Kitty litter is pretty popular for this.

 

A skimmer and fuge are helpful in very different ways IMO. A fuge can help remove nitrates that nothing else will. A skimmer can help remove the things that create those nitrates before they are created. I would get the skimmer first if you have to choose.

Sand really is not that necessary for a fuge. Macro is the mainstay of a fuge, and all your attention when setting it up should be put on that. There really is no additional cost to adding a fuge when you add your sump. All you need to do is plan for the space you need for it and put your baffles in accordingly so. You will need a fuge light which can be had for very cheap at Walmart. All you need is a clip on cone reflector light and a "grow" bulb. IMO it is good to add a small amount of live rock to your fuge also. Not as filtration because you should have plenty for that in your display. You want a little live rock in there as habitat for pods.

One other minor item to keep in mind when getting your supplies is a timer for your fuge light.

 

You know... Mike brings up a good point. A fuge will grow pods to feed corals and critter. Put in some rock rubble and whalla. Growing macro algae is good for nutrient export. So a good place to put it is in a fuge. A ball of cheato is cheap to free.

A deep sand bed is beneficial for other reasons. Micro fauna, nitrate reduction, more habitat.....but not necessary to the main purpose of a refugium for pods. A fuge is just another good place to put a DSB. You can easily get the benefits of pod production and nutrient export and worry about the DSB later.

 

Both. No question.

 

im in the midst now of finishing up my fuge (waiting on my mud), and from everything ive read about DSB and mud has lead me to firmly believe a 2" layer of mud minimum with a minimum of 3-4" of very fine sand with mangroves, chaeto, and possibly other macros with a little rock rubble and a 2700K-6500K light is a great setup.

check this article out regarding deep sand beds: Ron Shimek's Website...Deep Sand Beds

 

Great thread. All very good answers. Skimmers and fuges serve different purposes. For a new reef tank, IMO the priority is for a skimmer. A skimmer will remove the items from water that will eventually lead to accumulation of nitrates. Also, it will remove items from the water that are bad for corals and other livestock. A refugium is a different animal alltogether. It helps to remove nitrates that have already accumulated.

Such a great question that a complete answer would necessarily be a thousand words or more, but to distill it down--at this stage of the game, a skimmer IMO is much more important to have. But like Powerman said, get a cheap tank for a sump so you can get a higher quality In-Sump type skimmer. HOB skimmers that do the same job as an in-sump model are going to be very costly.

 

that bit about being antibacterial would have discouraged me as well.
does anyone know if there is any type of kitty litter that is not antibacterial? it makes sense that it would be though, considering its intended use.

i think i will initially setup my fuge without substrate but i want to eventually have about 4".
the link that bje gave was very informative on this topic. i think i'm going to need a detrivore pack though.

this is what i was wondering. this would definitely cement the decision to build a sump first. no HOB skimmer. it doesn't make sense if i'm going to have a sump anyway.

K+ for everyone