Reef Chronicle

Because so many fish and corals require pristine water conditions, filtration of our reefs water is a very important and very expansive aspect of the marine reef keeping hobby. All the types of filtration can be broken down into mechanical and biological. Mechanical filtration are going to be your canister filters, protein skimmers, uv sterilizers, etc etc. Biological filtration includes your refugiums, algal scrubbers, (click here for more information on algae scrubbers), your rock, and deep sand beds.

Biological filtration uses natural processes to reduce unwanted chemicals such as nitrate and phosphates. Certain types of macro algae’s, such as mangroves, chaeto, culpera, etc use these nutrients as food to grow. As the algae’s grow, they take up the nutrients and leave our water quality good as new. Of course the effectiveness of your bio filter relies on the size compared to the total water volume of your aquarium. From my own research, a refugium 1/10th the size of your total water volume is sufficient, but results vary and there are many methods to chose from when making your bio filter.

On my aquarium, I built a refugium/sump combination out of an old 15 gallon aquarium. I sectioned the tank off with glass baffles and some aquarium safe silicone from home depot. Here are some pictures of my setup and design.

Refugium sump design

Refugium sump build top view

The refugium portion (the larger part of the sump) came about to be just about 5 gallons. When installed, it will hold macro algae and a deep sand bed. The smaller side will house my protein skimmer and the overflow from the tank. It will flow through the bubble trap (3 glass panes close together) and into the center section, which holds the pump for my return to the main aquarium as well as a pump for my phosban reactor.

here are a few more pictures of what the sump looks like after I installed it in my stand. Click the images to expand them.

refugium sump with a small sandbed

Refugium sump with Chaeto

refugium sump with mangroves and equipment

Since installation, I have definitely seen a drop in nitrate and phosphate in my reef aquarium. Currently in the refugium are about 20 mangroves, a nice size ball of chaeto, and a small strand of some grape culpera. All of the algae are doing well and seem to be growing very nicely. I have also placed my yellow watchman goby inside the fuge because he was looking a little sick, as well as a few crabs that were messing with snails and coral.

I will try to post some diagrams of the actual build into the stand and show how the flow through the refugium/sump works. Also, if you are planning to take on a build like this yourself, please make sure that the silicone/glue you use is reef safe. Look for things that say 100% silicone and FDA approved. If your silicone says anything about mold inhibitors, stay away, it is not reef safe, even if it says 100% silicone. If you are still unsure, look at the types of silicone your local hardware store sells and look them up online to see if they are safe. Also, Prepare to get a little messy if it is your first time working with silicone.

Common brands of reef safe silicone are:

• Silicone that you find at your local fish store
• DAP 100% silicone
• GE silicone 1 – window and door ONLY. There are many debates of whether or not this aquarium silicone is indeed reef safe, but this is the kind that I have used, and it doesnt seem to be causing any problems.

Finally, if you are going to attempt building your refugium sump out of glass, please be careful. You don’t want this to happen to you.

Mangroves are becoming a very popular addition to home reef aquariums. They are great for reducing nitrate and phospate in the aquarium, but because of their slow growth rates, many people believe they are not as effective as the other types of macro algae, such as chaeto or culpera. In my own aquarium, I have been using several types of macro for my biological filtration, but mainly mangroves and I have just about 20 in my refugium. I wanted to post to show the growth rates of mangroves in my aquarium.

Also, it is recommended to have at least 1 mangrove per 2 gallons of total water volume of your system if they are your only source of biological filtration. I cannot comment on how accurate this statement is as I use other types of macro as well.

I built my refugium on november 3rd, 2009. It is a refugium + sump combo made with glass baffles and 5 gallon refugium section (you can find more on the build by clicking here). Here is what it looked like while I was testing to make sure there were no leaks.

Refugium

Then, on november 8th, I was able to install the refugium sump into my stand.

Refugium installed into my aquarium stand

My first macro algae, a nice size chunk of chaeto, was added November 12th.

Refugium with chaeto

Then, on December 3rd, I received my first 10 mangroves. I don’t have a picture of them, but I know this was the date as it was the day of Art Basel in Miami. On the way home from the art show, I went by the inter coastal and snatched a few mangroves out of the water. To my knowledge, it is O.K. to harvest mangrove seeds as long as they have no leaves or roots starting to form. The ones that I found were just seeds floating in the water.

The first picture I have of the mangroves was shortly after the seeds finally opened on January 15th 2010.

Mangroves in refugium January 15th, 2010

The next picture I have of the mangroves in the refugium is from January 20th, 2010. As you can see, more leaves have opened on a few of the seeds, and the ones that were open now have larger leaves.

Mangroves January 20th, 2010

Then, on feb 3rd, you can see that most of the mangroves have opened and a few of them are growing quite large. Some are even starting to grow their second set of leaves.

Mangroves February 3rd, 2010

Finally, a picture from today, February 17th, 2010. Most of the mangroves are doing well. I have also added 10 more mangroves that have not yet opened, a ball of chaeto, and a small piece of some grape culpera. All seem to be doing fine.

Mangroves February 17th, 2010

Over the last month, I have definitely seen a drop in my nitrates and phosphate in the aquarium since the addition of the refugium and mangroves. Also, when people come over to see the tank, they are sometimes more intrigued by my sump than my actual reef tank, and I must admit, it does look pretty cool.

You can find more information on my tank here

I have decided that it’s time for new tank. Over the last few months, I have been spending a lot of time of the Nano-Reef.com forums, specifically the pico reef section, which deals with mostly sub 5 gallon reef systems. Now, you might think that the smaller the tank, the easier it is to keep, right? Wrong! This is a very common misconception. Just like our large aquariums, these tiny reefs need to keep temperatures and chemical parameters very stable to thrive and grow. Because these sub 5 gallon systems are so small, it is very hard to stay on top of everything and even the slightest deviations from normal conditions can cause a fatal crash.

The aquarium I have chosen to for my 1 gallon reef is the Tom Aquatics Mini Deco aquarium, which comes with a small filter, small pump, and an inefficient for coral light. most of this will be tossed out as I am planning to make this an all in one tank, which means no hang on the back filters or external sumps. I plan to do this with sheets of acrylic from home depot, some aquarium safe silicone, and a little DIY guess and check. I have always been the type of person to buy a fully done item, but the bug has bit and I want to try some custom stuff.

Here, I will record all of my trials and tribulations concerning this tiny tank.

Pics of what I’ll be working with.

It looks a little dirty, but nothing a little vinegar and some buffing wont fix. Stay tuned!

Just wanted to throw a couple recent pictures of my aquarium and its current inhabitants. Thanks for looking and leave a comment or question if you like. I am quick with responses.

What is a Quarantine Tank?