Refugium too large?

I'm new to the hobby and this is my first thread, so bear with me.

I planning on putting together a 90gallon reef tank. I would like to do things "naturally" (i.e. lots of protein skimming and a refugium). I've been trying to find information about proper sizing and flow rates in a refugium, and it seems like the general consensus is 10% of display tank volume. My question is... Is it possible to have a refugium that is too large?

(I have an extra 55 gallon tank I want to use as a sump. With protein skimming on one end and a refugium on the other end..feeding the return pump in the center)

Originally I was planning on incorporating a DSB or Plenum in my display tank, and for aesthetic reasons, I've decided to do this in a the refugium. From what I read, the concern with a disproportionate refugium size is that there wouldn't be enough nutrients to support macro/mangrove growth. However, couldn't I have a large refugium in order to increase my NNR in the DSB and then limit how much macro/mangrove growth I have based on the expected bioload?

Any other disadvantages to large refugiums?

Just something that's been weighing on my mind, so I thought I'd ask the experts!

Thanks everyone!

-m

 

The only disadvantage I can think of is what you have already alluded to. If not enough nutrients in the water, the macroalgae your using can die, which releases nutrients back into the water which you don't want. Make sure to get a skimmer rated for your entire water volume, not just your DT.

 

On a 90 a 10 gal fuge will do you just fine and pass about 10 GPH through the fuge a fuge can be to large unless you just dump in food and nutrients into the main system to feed the grasses ? As for a skimmer ? with a properly sized and functioning refugium the skimmer will not have as much to skim so really you do not need a huge over sized skimmer . I ran a skimmer rated for 100 gals on 300 gal and it was never a strain and now I'll be adding several hundred more gallons to the skimmers demand

 

I have a 60g sump/fuge on my 90g. I wanted a big fuge, but also plenty of room for a skimmer. Well you would be surprised how fast real estate disappears.

Yet having said that my Fuge is only 15 actual gallons. By the time you add sand, and actual water level it isn't that big. I mean your fuge isn't going to be 25-30g. Heck, mine is 10 inches deep to the sand and it could be shallower. No real reason for it to be real deep.

I don't really see how a fuge can be too big. Bottom line though is that you will only grow the amount of macro the nutrients will support. My cheato is probably like the size of say....two softballs? It never grows. It takes about 2-3 months to double it's size for harvest. The caulerpa I put in first just melted. I had zero nitrates and no algae before the fuge. Others grows well. So it just depends.

 

Thanks for the help

Just curious, how deep is your sand bed in the fuge? Any troubles or advice?

 

i have a 29gallon sump for my 55gallon display.i have just liverock and chaetto in it.my chaetto doubles every month.i have a very old 40watt pc light over it and 800gph return pump.there is little room for a skimmer so i'll get a 300gallon long if i ever get a in sump skimmer.my current skimmer is a hob.if you ever make a plentum,put it in your sump.my plentum is in my display and is full now.it would take better than a day to remove everything and fix the plenum now so i'm leaving it alone.

 

My sand is 5", and my tank is 21. So I wanted to leave room at the top, so my fuge section is 15" deep.

And Tangster is the guy you want to listen to. I'm not necessarily saying I disagree with him, I just don't really understand how the container can be too big.

 

If i was reading Tangster correctly... I think he was saying that an oversize fuge, would be overkill? (i.e. a proportional fuge would do the job that I'm looking for) But not necessarily a problem?

 

If you only have enough fertilizer for say 1 acre of land and you take that amount of fertilizer and spread it over 50 acres what happens????? Stuff doesn't grow very good... Same holds true in a fuge. If you don't have enough nutrients to feed a big fuge then it's a waste of space.

 

Thats a good way to read it. I have just a couple of small pieces of live rock in there for habitat, and cheato. I think its 14" wide, by the 18" of the tank.