Calculating PowerHead GPH for Refugium

assafelbaz

Reefing newb
Hi.

I want to start build my refugium for my 75gal tank. I have couple of questions:

1. How to calculate the powerhead's power for the best results?
2. Is it should run all the time? (the powerhead)
3. If i have the refugium tank, should i leave the internal filter too, or the refugium is my filter now?
4. Except Chaeto algae, sand and rocks, what should i have inside?
5. Do i have to setup light for it, and if i do what is it's timing?
6. Where is the best guide (maybe it will answer my all questions) to build a refugium?

Thanks.
 
You dont really need a powerhead for a refugium, you generally have water flow into it off of the return pump from the sump

If you want to grow macro in it such as Chaeto - you will need some sort of light (most of us use the squiggly CFL bulbs that you can find basically anywhere that sells lightbulbs) You can either have it on 24x7, or OPPOSITE of your tank lights (this will help balance PH drop that occurs at night

rock, a little bit of sand, and some macro are about all you really need

What kind of internal filter are you referring too? Live rock, a protein skimmer, and a refugium should provide all the filtration you need
 
Thank you for you reply.

When i said powerhead i meant to the pump that deliver the water back to the aquarium. I wanted to know the flow rate that i need to use here. Also, how it is the best to setup all the refugium tank?

Thanks.
 
Head Loss Calculator:
http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/hlc2.php

Also, it actually IS a good idea to put powerheads in your sump! That way it keeps the detris in suspension, allowing for your filtration/skimmer/corals/filter feeders to pick it up out of the water column.

And just a FYI I would like to throw out there that the best bulbs for growing chaeto are the High Pressure Sodium Halides. Hands down best growth, and we all know the more growth our chaeto has the more nutrients/nitrates its pulling out of the water. Those lights are significantly more pricey, but is it worth it? I vote yes. :)
 
simple little CFL bulb at over 5000k is perfect for growing cheato..
cheap, effecient and grows like crazy under it.. bulb and fixture to hold it under 20 bucks at home depot.. I also like to have some movement in my refugium, cheato grows quicker with flow then without, but if the refugium is in your sump then no powerhead is necessary, there is already alot of flow going through the refugium...
 
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