Fuge - raw water vs skimmed

[steveoutlaw]

I'm going to be setting up a fuge below my tank. I've read a lot of articles on the fuge and the opinion seems to be about equal. Half of them say that it's better to have raw tank water going to the fuge (algea and pods feed of the bad stuff in the water) and the other half say it's better to have skimmed water going to the fuge. Any opinions?

[Grav]

I use raw tank water.

 

You didn't ask, but NO hermits or shrimp, that would be crazy.

[Lee Stearns]

Never thought about it much but I use raw. I think if you want significant pod pod production there it would help to have whatever phyto that was comming from the main tank rather than skim it first. The real question is what to put in the fuge- I have an oversize hermit couple of snails and two peprmints- to help keep the aptasia down. They have been great at that- But I think they are fairly aggressive feeders on my pods so I am having second thougts- I will probably pull my pepermints and put them in another tank and only import them if I see a problem with aptasia. I have seen some other reefers on RC state the same about no hermits or shrimp in the fuge.

[Guest clownfish4]

Very interesting question. I currently have my water enter my sump, then go through the skimmer, then go through the fuge and get pumped back to the tank. When I do my baffles I am going to put the skimmer on one side, the fuge on the other, and the pump in the middle and split my return to enter both sides.

[steveoutlaw]

The more I read the more people say that is the best idea.

[xeon]

Ideally, I would think raw would be the best bet. Theoretically, if you are running a skimmer with a pretty good turn over rate... all your water is being skimmed at some time or another. That would make all your water skimmed. Maybe I'm missing something though. IMO for phyto feeding purposes you can shut your skimmer down for a short time or if you don't want the hassle dose the refuge directly.

[Caribbean Jake]

In deed a very interesting question and one that will definitely devide opinions.

 

#1 Raw Water: You will need nutrients in your water in order to feed your fuge population therefore raw water shall be a good approach but once the water leaves the fuge it goes through the skimming process and some if not most of those nutrients are lost in the skimmer.

 

#2 Skimmed Water: You need nutrients in your water in order to feed your fuge population but the skimmed water reaching the fuge has some or little nutrients in it since they were lost during the skimming.

 

#3 SPLIT Water: Perhaps the best approach since it assures you that the raw water will reach the fuge with sufficient nutirents and the other 50% of water is treated through skimming.

 

Eventually all the water will either skimm or go through the fuge in either option, is just a matter of preference after all like most in this hobby. Some like eals, others like fish, while others like coral only tanks, is your choice.

[steveoutlaw]

Right, and if you use the split approach you get raw water to the fuge to feed it and pods and things back to the main tank. Granted all the water will eventually get skimmed but if you have a loop of raw water to fuge and fuge water back to main tank I think you're accomplishing most of what you have a fuge to do in the first place.

 

Thanks for all the input.

[Guest clownfish4]

This isn't the case for below tank fuges. Nearly all pods etc. get killed by the pump.

[Grav]

The original Q was raw or skimmed watter into the fuge, I stand by raw water.

 

However another point has come up: Skim after the Fuge? I do not do that and I think you will be hard pressed to find anyone that does. Mike has a good point, many, most, or even nearly all pods will get killed by the pump, which is why I have my fuge above the tank and Grav(ity) feed back to the display. HOWEVER some pods will make it . In my small tank I have tons living in my HOB filter and fan worms living in my HOB skimmer... only one way into those units. Further even dead pods make good food.

 

phil