Refugium ?
- Thread starter ahayes13
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The term refugium is commonly thought in the hobby to mean a place to grow macro algae for nutrient reduction, but that does not define a refugium... Jeremy said it perfectly in another thread:
Do a search for refugiums...
FWIW I have a sump with a "rubble tower" with copious amounts of sponge growth and no predators = I have a refugium
Do a search for refugiums...
FWIW I have a sump with a "rubble tower" with copious amounts of sponge growth and no predators = I have a refugium
beaslbob
2500 Club Member
I have an in tank refugium which is just an egg crate partition in front of the back wall.
and an external sump/refugium.
To me the single most important aspect of keeping any closed environment like our tanks, is to have thriving plant life (macro algaes) to balance and stabilize the system. A refugium is an excellent way of doing that so the fish and cleaner crews to not feed on the plant life.
just my .02
and an external sump/refugium.
To me the single most important aspect of keeping any closed environment like our tanks, is to have thriving plant life (macro algaes) to balance and stabilize the system. A refugium is an excellent way of doing that so the fish and cleaner crews to not feed on the plant life.
just my .02
GPhiAce
Active Member
I want one, just can't figure out a way to add a decent one to my setup. Not enough room in my sump and my overflow is perect, but the water leads to my skimmer. So my solution- lots of rock in my display. I will add a fuge to my next setup
oceanparadise1
The Coral Dudes
I have a 100 gallon rubber maind as a seperate fuge from my 75 gallon sump. My fuge has about 100 pounds live rock all sorts of algea tons of pods and soon to be about 100 mangrove plants.
oceanparadise1
The Coral Dudes
I have a 100 gallon rubber maind as a seperate fuge from my 75 gallon sump. My fuge has about 100 pounds live rock all sorts of algea tons of pods and soon to be about 100 mangrove plants.
I have trouble keeping algae in my fuge, I feel if I have algae growing in there then the nutrients in my tank are far too high 
cloakerpoked
Well-Known Member
I like keeping macro in my system, as I've experienced a lot less other algea (i.e. slime, hair, other nuissance) growing in the system at the same time. Definitely not a scientific reason for me to have it, but IME, this has been the case.
As far as the previous post about the overflow, just grow it in there anyway (as long as it won't clog a drain.) If the fuge is before or after the skimmer, who cares as long as the nutrients are removed from the system. Not like water enters the skimmer and leaves totally nutrient empty anyway, it just takes some of it out on each pass.
As far as the previous post about the overflow, just grow it in there anyway (as long as it won't clog a drain.) If the fuge is before or after the skimmer, who cares as long as the nutrients are removed from the system. Not like water enters the skimmer and leaves totally nutrient empty anyway, it just takes some of it out on each pass.
I love my refugium. When I added Chaeto to it, instead of the other algae that was going asexual, I saw an instant change in my main display! The dinoflagelletes that were haunting my system went away! Plus pods can grow for my mandarin!
DaveA
Active Member
I love my regufium, but I do not agree with this. I'm not an expert, but I think that dinoflagellates are just a part of the cycling. I hope someone with expertise chimes in. As a metter of fact, the dinos went away in my DT on their own. When I put up a refugium, after a while it got dinos. I expect they will disappear from my refugium in time too.
OP
OP
well im by no means an expert. but i have an established tank and got dinos. so they can come at anytime. i ended up getting rid of them with large frequent water changes (thanks to pierres advice) which most people would say not to do and it makes them worse. in my case it got rid of them in a month and they havent returned...
DaveA
Active Member
8" DSB with some smaller grain sand on top.
BTW, yesterday I cleaned my socks. One sock I had taken off the day before and let drip dry. When I turned it inside out, there were living things moving in it. I looked closer and they were pods. I couldn't believe they lived for over 24 hours without water. I dropped them into the DT and watched fascinated as the hermit crabs tried to eat them. I wish I had taken a video - next time I'll be ready. The pods can swim - at least a few inches off the ground. Everytime a hermit had multiple claws surrounding the pod, it would swim up into the water and land about an inch away. The hermit evidently couldn't see where it went when it went up into the water, so the hermit would turn round and round searching for the pod. This happened over and over and eventually the pod got away.
BTW, yesterday I cleaned my socks. One sock I had taken off the day before and let drip dry. When I turned it inside out, there were living things moving in it. I looked closer and they were pods. I couldn't believe they lived for over 24 hours without water. I dropped them into the DT and watched fascinated as the hermit crabs tried to eat them. I wish I had taken a video - next time I'll be ready. The pods can swim - at least a few inches off the ground. Everytime a hermit had multiple claws surrounding the pod, it would swim up into the water and land about an inch away. The hermit evidently couldn't see where it went when it went up into the water, so the hermit would turn round and round searching for the pod. This happened over and over and eventually the pod got away.
