FOWLR Refugium?

[giovanni3122]

I recently upgraded my sump to a bigger and better one. I had a refugium in my old sump, but I didn't transfer to new sump. Is a refugium necessary and beneficial with a FOWLR tank? To add it to the new sump, i would have to upgrade light (apparently the one i had, isn't big enough) and probably have to buy a new starter kit to get the chaeto going, so figure $200 or so to get this back up and running in new sump.

Money aside, is it worth having it or no difference? I have heard it isn't really needed with a FOWLR.

Thanks. John

 

[dbowman5]

if you want to feed your fish live pods, the refugium is where they grow so you don't have to keep buying them; chaeto is home to pods not just a nutrient export vehicle. i would also want a quiet place to put fish that matched the tank parameters.