Is it safe to house a fish in the Refugium until ready for the tank

justpeachy36

justpeachy36

Member
Good afternoon,
I have a question I have a 125g with 2" live sand bed 115lbs dried reef rock Eshoppers 200 sump with 9.5 mag drive return pump Bubble Mag6 protein skimmer and two wave makers with timer (not turned on yet) I have had the tank running for a month now with Dr. Tim's one and only to cycle with a little clown fish and three mermaid fan plants. I have order a coral beauty and the Firefish goby for the tank but don't want to over load my bioload. Can I house one fish in the refugium on my other 55gal tank for a week or so? The refugium has Chaeto and red Gracillia along with algae growing. I have added copepods to this refugium (haven't seen them in there but I put them in) I'm afraid with all the algae growing in there that it would hurt the fish. The 55g is 1 1/2 years old.

this was taken 5/17/13 its got a lot more algae growth now. (you don't clean them right)
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Hi,
A refugium is a safe place for the tiny critters to breed. You defy that purpose if you put an eater of tiny things into the refugium (fish). If your refugium is connected to the display as it should be...they are the same system. If the new fish is diseased with the parasite ich for example, you will contaminate your entire system. Then you would have to leave your display tank fishless for 8 weeks to get rid of it. Also if the new system can't handle the overload in the display, it can't handle it in the refugium which is part of that system. If the tank isn't cycled, neither is the refugium.
The macroalgae in your refugium is perfect!. It absorbs ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and phosphates (AKA nasty's) from your system. That's a smart move, and I'm glad you did that.
While you don't clean macros, you do have to harvest it. That means that when it gets overgrown, you remove some of it, so new stuff has some room to absorb more nasty's out of your water as it re-grows. You export the nasty's out of your system as you remove that overgrowth. If you leave it, the older algae will die off and thus return nasty's into your system that new macros will feed on, it's a natural cycle. We want to remove that older stuff before it does that, so it feeds on the fish waste rather then keep the cycle going for itself.
You should have a quarantine tank set up for your new additions. I highly recommend that you use a QT as you stock your dislay. It will also help you pace yourself to not overload your system, besides keeping the unwanted diseases away.
A QT is pretty easy to set up. Most use a 10 or 20g tank. You don't need any sand, but paint the bottom on the outside black, or set the tank on a dark surface. Use a small HOB filter such as the Penguin or Whisper brand. Run an airline (no stone) and attach it with a rubberband to a piece of PVC pipe or resin decoration. That also serves as a place for the fish to hide. Since you have it...put some macros in there too to help stabilize the water. I also do a small water change on the display, but instead of tossing the old water, I fill the QT with it. A sponge, or media from the established cycled display tank has enough good bacteria, along with the macros to allow one fish at a time...or two small fish such as the clowns.
Do you have live rock? You didn't mention it. The ONLY way to tell how the cycle stage is doing, is by doing water tests. Time means nothing, but I'm pretty sure one week is not long enough to give the good bacteria colonies time to develop. The macros will however be a great help in the cycle. What were your last test results?
 
justpeachy36

justpeachy36

Member

This what the refugium looks like today. Are you talking about trimming or cutting back the micro down in the refug.? By the way thank you for not getting mad at me for having one. I've seen a lot of people get bashed for having them.
 
S

saxman

Guest
A coral beauty and a firefish won't even make a properly-cycled 125 gal burp...no need to worry there as long as you've been feeding the tank.
That being said, I would consider QT-ing the new fishes over adding them into another DT's system. QT sounds like a PITA, but it's well worth it in the longrun.
 
justpeachy36

justpeachy36

Member
Good Morning,
I tested my water last night Nitrite .3 Nitrate is .4 Phosphate is .14 Ammonia is 0. I have had the tank cycling with Dr. Tim's one and Only for 29 days now. The parameters went up then back to zero however they started to rise a bit (which is were they are now) over this last week which I think is because a mermaid fan plant that died in the tank. I removed the dead plant yesterday so I think thing will go back down to 0 again. I have dried reef rock ( I was told to stay away from LR because of the nuisance algae that hitches in on it. I have 115lb of dried reef rock I ordered from here.
OK the refugium is on my 55 gallon saltwater which has been running for 1 1/2 years. I really didn't think about the fish eating my critters I was worried about the nasty algae in there bothering the fish. So when you say harvest I should trim back the good micro algae? It doesn't seem to have grown very much but there is a lot of bad stuff in there. I think I posted a new pic of it taken yesterday.
I have a little 15 gallon saltwater I was going to use for a QT but I got tired of looking at nothing in there but a little hair algae on my rock so I got a emerald crab and a lawn mover blenny. I could put one of the new fish there for a week or so but not sure how difficult it will be to get him out later with out tearing down the whole tank.
I ordered two fish for the new big tank 125g but don't want to add both at the same time for fear of the bio load. I was told one fish per week to two weeks (its cheaper to order a couple at a time with shipping fees and everything I have got from my one and only local store has died.)
 
S

saxman

Guest
Going slow is great, and I agree with that. However, you also need to consider the mass of the fish you're adding versus the total volume and bioload of your tank, and both of the fishes you mentioned will add much to it, even when added together. Both of those fishes would probably not equal the mass of say a single dwarf lionfish, so you see that mass is more important than number of fishes.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by saxman http:///t/395778/is-it-safe-to-house-a-fish-in-the-refugium-until-ready-for-the-tank#post_3524553
Going slow is great, and I agree with that. However, you also need to consider the mass of the fish you're adding versus the total volume and bioload of your tank, and both of the fishes you mentioned will add much to it, even when added together. Both of those fishes would probably not equal the mass of say a single dwarf lionfish, so you see that mass is more important than number of fishes.
I agree with both of Saxman's posts.... a quarantine will save you a ton of headaches and heartaches. Adding small fish like that into a 125g is not going to do anything to crash the tank because of bioload. The greater fear is disease and parasites such as ICH. A quarantine tank is worth it's weight in gold.
 
michaelkelley

michaelkelley

Member
This post is a great help for me as I want to have refugium for me and I was not aware what to do. Initially I thought that I will put all the fish once, but after coming here I think that I have been saved as I will go slowly now.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelKelley http:///t/395778/is-it-safe-to-house-a-fish-in-the-refugium-until-ready-for-the-tank#post_3524600
This post is a great help for me as I want to have refugium for me and I was not aware what to do. Initially I thought that I will put all the fish once, but after coming here I think that I have been saved as I will go slowly now.
Hi,
Welcome to the site. I'm not really sure what you are saying...
A refugium is a safe haven for tiny critters and macroalgae to grow and breed seperated from the fish that would eat it...it's a separate tank, yet attached to the display. Most times it is just an extra chamber in the sump, I'm glad you decided to go slow, that will help you a great deal in this hobby.
A quarantine is a totally separate tank where we put new fish for a few weeks (usually 4), to observe them for disease or parasites. It's much easier to treat a new fish in a quarantine tank. It would endanger all the other healthy fish in the display if you place a new critter that's diseased or full of parasites. Also using a quarantine tank will also help you regulate how fast you add new fish and prevent the "too much, too soon" disaster.
 
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