Refugium Questions

reeferdude

reeferdude

Member
I was looking through an aquarium hardware catalog I just got and I saw a very kool looking thing called a refugium. This one hangs on the side of the tank and has its own powerhead to move water, best of all its only $99.99. My question is what is a refugium used for. The caption says it is for fish isolation but it also has a lot of algae in the picture so I don’t really know..
 
j21kickster

j21kickster

Active Member
we know what a refugium is- for 99$ how big? Dimensions? does it come w/ a light? (if it is hang on it is mostl lkiley a cpr, possibly a ecosystem for sale)It can be used to grow macroalgae for food or nutrient export. it can pe a place to grow diff pods and worms- they are good thing to have. What size of tank do you have?
 
mbuckley

mbuckley

Member
I just set-up a refugium under my 35 gallon "Display" tank and it was 20 gallons itself. My intention was a place to hide all the filters, pumps, and protein skimmer attachments that hung into the main tank.
As well I am growing culerpa to help filter the water of phosphates, nitrates and other harmful chemicals.
A refugium is also useful for growing all the little critters that will help in your main tank. For me I want to develop a good and strong pod populations so I can have a mandarin in my display tank.
A refugium is also a great place to setup a DSB which will help lower your tanks nitrates.
As you can see their are a ton of benefits to a refugium. However I would think that depending on what you want it for... size does matter... I tend to find you get what you pay for.
It cost me around $700-$800 (canadian) to set-up my refugium. But that just my 2 cents....
Mike
 
jonthefb

jonthefb

Active Member
critters are typically in reference to copeopods, snails, isopods, and other micro-organisms, that inhabitat a refugium and reproduce like mad because they have nothign that eats them. The one you are looking at is very small. i would not reccommend hanging it on the back of a 120 gal tank, as it really isnt going to do much. i have a 135 gallon tank, that has probably a 75 gallon refugium under it that is the sole means of filtration. if this is all you are going to use as filtration it is not enough. if you just want to provide a steady supply of pods as food for your fish then i would say go with it, but id look into something a bit larger!
good luck
jon
 
reeferdude

reeferdude

Member
Let me describe my setup and my needs to you and ill see if you can help me. Ok my 120 sits on a homemade stand that is 62" long by 22" tall. Im sure you are just thinking "why dont you just put it under the stand" well I can't because I have a little place for two ten gallons. So now you see why I have to use hang on stuff. I was thinking about starting a 55 or a 75 and I would like to put a refugium on that one to like breed snails and shrimp. How would I do this, just go buy a 20 gallon tank, put it under the stand and get a couple of powerheads to send and return water????
 
blondenaso1

blondenaso1

Member
I wouldn't put that on a 120, but that is perfect for my 20gal. I think I am going to save some money up and get that :)
 
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