Is a 2.5 gallon refugium worth it?

[roseselene]

Hi! We have a new 55 gallon setup and have been doing some reading and realized that the protein skimmer we bought isn't really that great. So, we were going to be ordering a AquaC Remora protein skimmer....but were also looking at some of the other products that are available before we actually place our order. I see that there are small hang on the back refugiums ....the smallest one we calculated to be about 2.5 gallons. Is that worth it, or is that just not really worth the money as far as refugiums go. Also....any discussion on the benefits of refugiums from anyone would be greatly appreciated. We're trying to figure out whether it would be worth it for us to buy one.
Thanks!

 

[Baianotang]

YES, is the only thing that comes to mind...Good luck.

 

[Anonymous]

Fuges IMO are worth it..but i suggest a large fuge..maybe a 20 or 30 gal would be nice...most people use another tank and plumb it into their main tanks...

 

[ufans]

It all depends on what you are using the refugium for. At 2.5gal you aren't going to have a DSB so denitrification is out of the picture. It would be large enough to grow macro-algae to help with the nutrient export, but you are going to have continually harvest the growth. So... all that is really left is a safe zone for copepods and other critters.

So... you really need to decide what you are using it for....and then decide for yourself if it is worth it.

 

[qwiksilver]

I agree with ufans. If you want to maybe later try a mandarin sp. or another fish that lives off pods and other things on the live rock, the little fuge might be just the thing to do. Just pop a couple of small pieces of live rock in there with a decent little light to grow your organisms off your rock and they will grow and reproduce there seeding the rest of your system.

 

[Anonymous]

It also creates a large volume of water which can be beneficial