Algae Turf Scrubber vs. Refugium

I have clients ask me all the time if we should include an Algae Turf Scrubber or Refugium as part of a new project build. My initial response is usually, “Let’s get you a sump that will accommodate either one first”. The client’s usual response is, “But company XYZ included an Algae Turf Scrubber or Refugium as part of their Bid/Proposal, why not you?”. My response usually is, “…for a saltwater Fish Only with Live Rock (FOWLR), let see if the live sand, live rock, protein skimmer, and mechanical filtration in the sump keep your nitrates, phosphates, ammonia, and other parameters in an average range for a FOWLR tank with some soft coral first before we add an often pricey Algae Turf Scrubber or moderately price Refugium.” If a prospective client intends to have Small Polyp Stony Coral (SPS), then I will usually add an Algae Turf Scrubber or Refugium set up as part of the bid/proposal.

So which one do I recommend? It depends (yes, I know the answer you don’t want to hear up front). I’ve had refugiums with chaeto macro algae in the past and often at first they did not take off and produce a big beautiful fat mats of macro algae that you had to harvest every two weeks. Yes, there were an abundance of nutrients and fancy refugium lighting for growth. I can verify that not all clean chaeto from Algae Barn does not take off at first! Sometimes second and third batches sometimes do better for some reason (yes, all nutrients and PAR were within reasonable parameters. And Yes, I would often supplement with ChaetoGro from Brightwell Aquatics.

At present I recommend the IceCap Internal or External Pro Algae Turf Pro Scrubber to my clients. Why? It’s a good value and green hair algae will start growing in a about a week if you leave it on 24/7 at first. Also, it’s relatively easy to harvest the macro algae once a week or once evert two weeks.

Refugiums can be cheaper but require a lot more patience to set up. You have to buy refugium lighting (often not cheap. Yes, I have tried the best value refugium lights from Amazon). And I only recommend “clean” chaeto from AlgaeBarn. Please Do Not get chaeto from a buddy’s aquarium unless you are ready to deal with all of the unwelcome hitchhiker’s that Will Come With It!