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and darn it, the forum doesn't read very well

There are pro tips, and there is Jayc's Pro tip - "you don't have to use sand in the refugium. You can use inert gravel or plant substrates. It is going to be used to grow plans afterall." The plant substrates will add to the overall pH of the system, so be careful. Use inert gravel if you don't want pH to drop to low. But plant substrates don't have the negatives of deep and beds which can trap nasty gases. When the buffering has been expired in old substrate, a refugium is a nice and easy way of adding new buffering substrate without disturding the main tank layout.

I am seeking ideas etc for how to setup a sump with refugium and would like to ask if anyone can share pictures and/or dagrams (if you sketched any) of their setup and any insights they may have! Love n peace Will

I have my mesh nets of mineral balls and alder cones in there, as well as a decent sponge filter :)

Lol all good. Just had a thought, that last section of the refugium, it doesn't need to be empty. Use that space for Marinepure blocks or similarly high surface area bio media.

So I drew this up for @revolutionhope today. It is just a rough guide but will help anyone setting up a sump with refugium with the basic principals of what is needed for a 3 section setup. Drawing is not to scale. DSBs ( deep sand beds ) get a bit of negative attention and are more commonly used in marine setups however adding one to your shrimp / freshwater setup is a great way to deal with nitrates, DSBs can only become dangerous when disturbed ( Pro tip, don't disturb DSBs XD )

Hi, I am new to this forum, but it looked like the perfect place to hopefully get the help that I need. I also hope that I am posting in the correct place with relevant information as I'm not a big forum writer but possibly will write more now that I have the time. I currently have a large lobster setup that I wish to hopefully turn into a breeding setup in Malaysia. I have about 40 Australian red claw crayfish and they have been in the tank now for just over 1 month. At first I have a few fatalities (from not cycling the tank long enough). But it's now been almost 2 months that the tank has been running and I just can't seem to get the nitrates or nitrites under control. The volume is about 300 liters with 3 sections. The main large section where most of the crayfish are has 1 pump going directly into a pressurised canister filter that I made. There is also another pump running alone for water flow (and to stop mosquito's breeding). The top section is the main box filter that has bio balls in the bottom, then sponge medium and coral fragments followed with sponge on the top. I have also been using some probiotics to encourage nitrifying bacteria to start. The middle section has 4 females (about 4 inches each) and 1 male (about 3 inches). I have 2 fairly good size pieces of driftwood in there too. My pH is at 7.8 (trying to get this down a little bit too). Any suggestions would be much appreciated on how I can lower my nitrites and nitrates.

Hi, I am busy trying to breed the red claw in Malaysia and I'm using large fibre glass and plastic tubs. I've only just started, and so far it hasn't been too bad. But I am struggling with high nitrates and nitrites. But the crayfish have settled nicely now and have all grown quite a lot. I've now separated 4 large females and 1 large male into the middle section to see if I can get them to start breeding. A lot of people in Malaysia use these tubs and have had success, so I see no reason why using IBC totes wouldn't work.

Or ... turn your cheap floppy net into a 3d net with some DIY ...

Thanks@jayc yep I love his setup and I've been following the thread :-) Jarad has been a big help advising me for how to plumb my future setup.

@revolutionhope, Jarad set one up recently. Did you see this? That's pretty much it for a basic refugium design.

Thats great advise from both of you. Now to the nuts and bolts of it. Do you use a single net, double net, Net and scraper/scarer or use one of those glass shrimp catchers. Get them in a corner or on the front glass etc. I find them bloody fast and run for cover really quick.

Hi all, i would like to share with you my tank/bowl. i have had this set up for nearly 4 months now with varying fish etc. at the minute i have 2 apple snails (down to 1 as he escaped and cannot be found :-/) 2 horned snails 1 shark 1 bristle nose 2 other fish im not sure of the name, its escaped me as i am typing and 2 red clawed crabs I have had a betta fighting fish be he sadly passed away. I would love to have shrimp in the tank but i am to afraid of my crabs eating them Its a fairly simple set up nothing extreme its only a 11 litre tank so it has a 25w heater a filter and a fluval prism Ceramic LED light. the LED light i am very impressed with i have to say my mrs loves changing the colour with the remote as her mood (which is normally changed to red)

I too have very full planted tanks. I usually keep a breeding box around for culling. Over the course of a couple of days, I'll keep an eye out during feedings or when I walk by and spot a candidate and remove any shrimps that aren't up to par and stick them in the breeding box. When there's enough to warrant a move, I'll move them to the cull (community) tank or where ever they're going and acclimate the lot in 1 go. Or sell them off from the breeding box if it's just excess shrimp of decent quality. The box cuts down on the need to acclimatize individual or small numbers of shrimps, which makes me less lazy about the culling.

good call not getting that sump dude! keen to see what your next movie is :)