Refugium critters

[ca1ore]

I actually have three refugia (four if you count the frag tank) across my system, all serving different purposes. First is a 40 gallon space in the main sump solely for chaeto, though bristleworms, small brittle stars and various pods always show up. Second is a 120 gallon tank setup as a refuge for those fish and inverts that struggle in the main display. It's setup a a reef tank, essentially. Third is a RDSB/cryptic tank with fine sand and some rubble. Pods of all kinds, mini and micro stars, spaghetti and bristleworms, sponges, mysis shrimp ....

 

[tony'stank]

I put red leg hermits and assorted snails in my refugium

 

[joe berkman]

Great thread I just set up my trigger triton fuge and have 2 peppermint shrimp and 5 huge turbo snails that clean mixed rubble and a busted up marine pure plate and they keep it pretty clean. My plan has been to swap the rubble for a sand box fabed out of marine pure and fill it with live sand from gulf coast echosytems and add a serpent star.

 

[joe berkman]

 

[[Cameron]]

In my experience chaeto pretty much outgrows everything and it happens fast. If you put it in there with other algae, be prepared to keep up on the "bush" trimming.

 

[lbacha]

In my experience chaeto pretty much outgrows everything and it happens fast. If you put it in there with other algae, be prepared to keep up on the "bush" trimming.

I have already decided to make a 2 chamber fuge the first for cheato and the second for Xenia and slower growing macro algae. I have noticed that cheato will consume ammonia directly so you don't even get nitrates. I cycled with a big ball of cheato and never had measurable ammonia or nitrates (actually slowed my cycle down lol)

 

[joe berkman]

I set the new system up on the first, added chato a week later. It dubbed in size the first week, but hasn't grown much since. I was thinking it would be nice to add something to feed my tang.