just what is the purpose of a refugium?

[tgrindle]

OK here is a dumb question.....

Just what purpose other then a place to grow pod and alge for a refugium?

 

[Anonymous]

The make for a healthier overall tank. Benefits include food source for display inhabitants, convenient nutrient export, additional capacity for organisms that process ammonia compounds.

 

[tgrindle]

Ok another dumb question
If I set one up, sand substrate, some live rock (cured) where does all this good stuff come from?
I can set up a te gallon tank beside my 80 and siphon directly from my big tank into the 10 and pump it back to the 80?

 

[Anonymous]

Do it the other way. You want to pump from the main tank and gravity feed back into the refuge. That way the beneficial organisms you are trying to gro in the refuge won't have to brave an impeller to get into your main tank.

:lol: Are you sure this is not a troll :lol: 8O

hehehe

 

[Anonymous]

The idea of a fuge is to keep it free of predators for the pod and stuff to reproduce. Also to have a place to grow macro algae to compete with the nuisance stuff we get in our tank. It is better to have the fuge drain into the tank but the other way will work if that is all you have.

 

[Anonymous]

I think you got it right.

I really like my in tank refugium which could be another option.

 

[Anonymous]

btw: the only dumb question is the one not asked. :lol:

 

[ctxmonitor1]

Do it the other way. You want to pump from the main tank and gravity feed back into the refuge. That way the beneficial organisms you are trying to gro in the refuge won't have to brave an impeller to get into your main tank.

:lol: Are you sure this is not a troll :lol: 8O

hehehe

I might be missing something.. How do you get the water from the refugium to the main tank? Isn't most of the refugium is place underneath the main tank?

 

[Anonymous]

For most setups it is indeed more practical to have the fuge below the display, and in this case water needs to be pumped back to the display. To set one up the way Cknowlto has in mind, the fuge needs to be higher so water can be fed by gravity back to the display.

The thinking is that pods etc from the fuge that are desireable as snacks for the display inhabitants will get pureed by the pump before they can get there. Not everyone agrees on that point and if you do a search you can turn up some discussions on the topic.

 

[Anonymous]

...
I might be missing something.. How do you get the water from the refugium to the main tank? Isn't most of the refugium is place underneath the main tank?

Usually yes, but some put the refug above the tank so the tank return line is a drain not a pump. Technically, that makes the display tank the sump. :lol:

also a refug does no thave to be external to the tank at all. It is extremely simple to partition the tank creating an in tank refug. I in my case I did some unusual lighting to insure all the macro have light but it has been extremely effective.

 

[Tackett]

Id just run it with a return pump and hide the thing. Some critters will get chopped, some wont. I dont think that a return pump has a significant impact on population at all. But thats just me.

 

[ctxmonitor1]

...
I might be missing something.. How do you get the water from the refugium to the main tank? Isn't most of the refugium is place underneath the main tank?

Usually yes, but some put the refug above the tank so the tank return line is a drain not a pump. Technically, that makes the display tank the sump. :lol:

also a refug does no thave to be external to the tank at all. It is extremely simple to partition the tank creating an in tank refug. I in my case I did some unusual lighting to insure all the macro have light but it has been extremely effective.

Yea that make sense.. So you partition your main tank to have a little portion for refug? I don't know if i want to do that. I think the other choice to to get one of those HOB refugium. You could use the from the main tank to light the refugium, right?

 

[Tackett]

YEah, CPR makes a pretty good hangon refug if I remember correctly.

 

[Anonymous]

Id just run it with a return pump and hide the thing. Some critters will get chopped, some wont. I dont think that a return pump has a significant impact on population at all. But thats just me.

You know, I sent a bunch of live brine shrimp through my return pump once in a sick and twisted bout of experimentaion, to see if they lived.

Almost all came jetting out the return and went along swimming vigorously, just few had a bit of a mangled appearance.

 

[Anonymous]

...
Yea that make sense.. So you partition your main tank to have a little portion for refug? I don't know if i want to do that. I think the other choice to to get one of those HOB refugium. You could use the from the main tank to light the refugium, right?

One club member just used a plastic shoe box as a HOB refug for a 10g.

lights depend of how the display is lit. Generally a simple added light is needed for a hob refugium.

 

[wade1]

Just to toss in my opinion/knowledge here...

1- A refugium is nothing but a hiding place without predation where pods and such can grow up and spawn and "feed" your other tank. It has nothing to do with algae.

2- Having a refugium below a tank feeding the tank with a pump is a non-issue. I have watched a clown goby pass through a 4000gph pump without incident... and I know pods and mysis and their larvae/eggs will pass without any issue. Pumps do not have blades per se... they 'scoop' little bits of water in discreet amounts. As long as the body going in is smaller than the distance between those impeller blades, it will not be damaged (however, something like an algae blenny will get lopped in half... seen that too). So... using a pump to feed the tank is not an issue. Having the refugium in front of a skimmer could be (entrapment/removal there).

What you use for a refugium really doesn't matter a whole lot. The first refugiums were nothing more than screened in boxes that went under your rocks in the main tank provided a refuge for critters from predation. That worked fine too.

 

[Oceans Ferevh]

If you need to save space you could get a HOT refugium by CPR. I have a 24 in" one and it works great. It was the best option for me at the time, but It's only good for smaller tanks though cause they don't come any larger. Besides, if you have a larger tank you can easily hind a refuge below. It'll look better that way.

 

[lobo42a]

Just to enter my opinion.I have been keeping salt water tanks for 40 years and I have found that a planted refugium is the best way to filter water to youre main tank.I have a 60 gal planted refugium to filter my 55 gal reef tank and I never have any problums with it. I never change water on the main tank,I just use a drip system to add for evaperation. I have a Deltec model MCE 600 hang on skimmer on my 55 main tank.
If no one beleaves this works ,check out www.EZTANK.com All they use to filter there tanks are algae scrubbers. If youre in this hobby long enough you will find out what works and what don't ,It's only youre money

 

[Tackett]

dear jesus...

 

[Fastmarc]

Yes it is true. Algae is a good way to export nutrients, but as Wade explained, a refugium is just a place that small creatures can flourish without being preyed upon, though a lot of people combind the two and grow algae in them.