New home built refugium

jjetjock

jjetjock

Member
Well I decided to build a refuge next to my 125. I have set it up and it is running. Now I need to add some more macros and maybe a critter or two. The size is 17x17x16. The light is a 6500k LOA that I purchased at Home Depot(65 Watts of electricity and gives off 500 watts of light). I set it up with a 4inch live sand bed and some small live rock.
My questions are
1. More live rock and is it ok to go in the chamber on the right ?
2. What type of critters if any?
3. What type of macros would you recommend?
Thanks in advance.
 
lobstergrabber

lobstergrabber

Member
People talk about different temps all the time. Most I have seen in books recommend 78 +/- . Alot on here think that most reefs in the wild go 80-84 so they try to stay around there. As far as his tank being low, if I knew I could get my tank to grow as well as his by spending 500$ on a chiller I would be at the store waiting for it to open tomorrow.
Rich
 
terminus est

terminus est

Member
Contrary to popular opinion reef temps are not set in the wild and can fluctuate depending on current and tides. Fish actually do better physically when the temp is in the mid to upper seventies. Mid eighties might be ok for corals but it puts fish's body in overdrive with metabolism and such(for comparisson drink several pots of coffee wait a little while for the heart rate to go up and the blood to start pumping and imagine living like that full time). Its been been observed with yellow tangs in the wild that whole schools will move into cooler areas of the reef such as overhangs and such to cool down. 77-79 is perfect. As to the questions:
1. You can add more LR to the chamber on the right and center chamber, just leave space for the macro to grow. And dont add so much that it inhibits water movement or is easily clogged.
2. My refugium works great with about 6 snails and a few hermits, Its only a 20g. I also keep ghost shrimp I catch at my dock and occassionally feed to my lion in the tank above.
3. I have I think its called razor grass in mine. Long flat leaves, grows like mad and keeps the water perfect.
The refugium is by far my most important and best addition to my 65 tank. I fully recommend one to anybody.
 
madd catt

madd catt

Member
Its nice, what pump are you using?
You can try calurpa or turtle grass or mermans shaving brush and you also can add snails or hermit crabs to keep the sump part clean.
Snails may go to where the pump is and if not covered by a foam block in the pumps intake may clog it or worse,not if that has happened to anyones pump unit .
 
krishj39

krishj39

Active Member
Sure, add more rock to the right, as terminus said. Critters: add a few margarita snails to keep the sides clean, maybe some mexican turbos as well to possibly help with micro algae control. Pods should develop on their own within the month. I recommend any caulerpa, feather seems to grow the fastest. Also, spaghetti algae is a good addition as it doesn't attach to anything and so can easily be removed for nutrient export. It is the kind of algae that looks like a big brillo pad. That's a good looking refugium, I'm sure it will serve you well.
In this picture you can see my feather and grape caulerpa, and also my spaghetti algae.
 
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