How big of a refugium do I need?
The standard answer is always as big as you can when it comes to sump and refugium questions. As far as layout of your sump and refugium you can read about a hundred different ways to do it and people can make great arguments for every one.
What should be in a refugium?
Fish, snails, shrimp, corals, crabs, corals, and copepods can all be put in the refugium. Though all of these animals can live in the refugium doing so could impact the goals you may have for your refugium.
What do you feed copepods in a refugium?
But one can keep a pretty reliable availability of pods present at all times when using a refugium. The most wonderful thing about copepods is that (at least as adults) they survive by eating unwanted stuff like film algae and detritus.
What size refugium do I need for a reef tank?
If your wanting to use a refuge for macro algae to help with nitrates and nutrient removal then you will want a large refugium to house as much macro algae as possible. For a 75g tank I would do a 20-30g long IMO. I use a 30g for my 120g and its still not as large as I would like it.
Do saltwater tanks need a refugium?
You do not need a refugium for a saltwater tank. I would recommend a sump with some sort of mechanical filtration (filter sock or bag). As long as you have sufficient biological filtration within your display tank, keep your bio load reasonable and have efficient skimming you should not need a refugium.
How are refugiums used in a reef aquarium?
Refugiums are small tanks added to a reef aquarium that are used to grow micro-fauna and macro-algae that feed the livestock and help consume excess nutrients that nuisance algae use to grow. They can be easily installed in a sump or hang on the side of the aquarium.
What kind of sand do you use for a refugium?
This aids both tanks being linked to a common water source and a deeper sand bed makes this possible. You can use live aragonite sand; however, there are many sources for sand as well as live rock. Place a few pieces of rock rubble from your main tank into the refugium.
Where does the water come from in a refugium?
Then the water returns from the refugium into the main aquarium, or the filter sump, by gravity or by siphon action. Time to make a point: The water entering the refugium should come from below the main tank’s water surface—not from the overflow—if so equipped.
When did refugia become popular in aquariums?
These days, it seems as though a pretty solid majority of reef aquarium systems include a refugium. The growing popularity of refugia has been more a glorious resurgence than a successively rising trend. Indeed, they were quite commonly used in the hobby in the early 1990s. Unlike the refugia we’ve been seeing today, however, the …