Refugium ????

[smalltimer]

Does a refugium help nitrates. Also, my wife want to keep sea horses. Can I hook a refugium to my sump and keep macroalgea and some seahorses??
Thanks

 

[jonthefb]

The purpose of a refugium is to provide a natural means of filtration. the algae that you will intentionally grow in the refugium converts nitrates to energy and causes the plants to grow. It also harbors numerous creatures such a copeopods, snails, crabs and worms, that can be fed back in the main tank if gravity is used to return the water. If a pump is used, a lot of the little crustaceans get chopped up by the impeller. As for keeping seahorses in your refugium, I really wouldnt advise it unless you have a very tall refugium tank, or pygmy seahorses. seahorses are vertically oriented creatures. It is important to have a tall tank when keeping seahorses so that they can travel vertically as well as horizontally. This is especially important if you ever find a mated pair. In the morning the male and female will swim towards one another, grasp tails and spiral upward in the tank. Another difficulty with seahorses is feeding them properly. They are not fast animals and have to stalk their prey, which results in them spending the majority of the time hunting food. In the wild, seahorses feed on tiny copeopods and amphipods that they find in their seagrass habitat. A well established refugium is the perfect condition for these guys because they have no competition for food, and can snack all day, providing the tank conditions are right. seahorses eat a lot, and like mandarinfish, can easily deplete the pod community in a young tank. In my experience, captive raised horses fare much better, last longer and eat frozen food, and also do not strain the wild seahorse populations, as many species are yet unidetified, and are on the verge of becoming extinct. If you are really serious about seahorses, read as much about them as you can. the best book out there is called Seahorses: An identification guide to the world's species and their conservation by sara A Lourie, Amanda C J Vincent, and Heather J Hall. They are gorgeous creatures, but need a lot of care and knowledge if they are to survive in an aquarium.
Good luck
JON <img src="graemlins//urrr.gif" border="0" alt="[urrr]" />