Refugium pics wanted

sundance1

Member
Can ya all show me some pics of you refugiums and list what it is stocked with?Mine will be here next week and I need some ideas!
 

benter

Member
Here is mine..Not much stocking wise..1 rainford gobie, and a legless emerald crab, 3 or 4 pistol shrimp, and a Yasha--whatever that word is high fin gobie, the red and white one..apologize for it being dirty..time for maintenance tommorrow..
 
J

jcrim

Guest
Originally Posted by Three boys
Don't want to sound like a dummy, but what is a refugium?? Sorry for asking??
A refugium is a type of natural filter that uses macro algae to remove nitrates from the tank.
Here's mine, a 40 gallon fuge. I have about 12 lbs of lr and caulerpa. I have a few snails, hermit crabs and one brittle star.
 

benter

Member
Yeah speg..the growth is phenemenal..the picture you see of mine is just after I took out 2 large bags of various algaes for credit at the lfs
 

three boys

Member
can u help me out some more--never seen anything like like it. I have a 120 gal w/xp3 filter, skimmer. Have nitrate problems too. UG filter ( I know!) and CC
 

speg

Active Member
It naturally reduces nitrates/phosphates in your water for a cleaner healthier tank.
 

zman1

Active Member
Not so typical, but a fuge just the same.
Pictures:
1. 32 gal Rubbermaid - Caulerpa racemosa (grape) and Caulerpa serrulat. Normally have a 120W grow light over it. Right now in the picture is a 300W unfiltered utility bulb. 5" sand base and about 23" water column. - nothing
2. Is the back half of a 55 gal Rubbermaid stock tank with Caulerpa racemosa (grape), Caulerpa serrulat, Halimeda, and Chaetomorpha (not anchored, but floating - not the aerea variety). 1/4 " shells, sand and DIY/LR pieces. 500w halogen 11" water column. couple P shrimp and 2 emerald crabs.
3. 10 gal tank Caulerpa racemosa (grape), 1.5" sand bed, 18 or 24 watt florescent grow light. P shrimp and sally lightfoot.
Number two grows the fastest, then one, followed by number three.
2, 1, 3


 
T

thomas712

Guest
Refugiums have a seperate chamber from the main tank but shares the water column and this give us more water volume, which leads to water chemistry stablity.
They may contain live rock and/or live sand which gives us more natural biological filtration.
They can be used with or without a lighting system, but this would depend on what you design as a refugium.
Refugiums allow uninhibited organism development free of usual grazers, thus you can grow pods, shrimp and worms in an enviroment free from molestation.
They can provide a place for seperating some of the animals that you keep that wind up fighting, or a temp home for some critters that you need to get out of the main display.
They provide a method of cultivation of food for your system ie.. phyto, pods, macro algea if you have a tang that would eat them.
You can grow macro algaes for natural filtration and food
It is possible to even use for breeding fish.
I find that I can place my bags of animals that I need to acclimate right into the fuge and run a drip line to them, so I don't need to drip into a bucket, though I do need to empty water from the bag to the bucket.
With a reverse lighting schedual you can wind up with a much more stable pH by using a fuge.
My fuge is a 55 gallon with chaetomorpha algae and a 4.5 to 5 inch DSB, and some live rock, even a few corals that I had to move, or I will hold them there for trade or to go to the LFS with them for credit.
 

krisiks

Member
But what is the purpose of hermit crab, snails and stars in a refugium? What do they do in a refugium?
Thanks.
 
T

thomas712

Guest
Snails will help keep the film algae down on the glass, and rocks, also a certain amount of solid waste or uneaten food can be carried into the refugium from the main that can be cleaned up by snails, hermits, pods, stars, and worms. These critters also help keep the sand bed healthy by gently stirring and turning it over helping in the case of a DSB to process nitrates and other waste or DOC's.
Sometimes its a bannishment, if you have a strange hermit that is killing snails or other hermits they get banned to the fuge or other strange hitch hikers.
Thomas
 
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