refugium what are they??

[von_rahvin]

ok i am kinda new to this board so i have to ask lots of questions. If i get annoying i'm sure a shark will bash me
anyway, what is a refugium and why would i want one. I have gone through just about every post on this bb and i have checked out every tank i can see, most are FANTASTIC those that aren't, will be there soon. but it seems that these refugium things are a pretty neat idea. open season on the anwsers

 

[mr . salty]

A refugium is pretty much the same as a sump.Except that they are setup with out any obvious filteration.They also run at a very slow flow rate.This slow flow allows the algae/sand to work.They are mainly used to remove nitrates from the system.They also give algae(good and bad) a preferred place to grow,thus keeping algae outbreaks from showing in your main tank...

 

[toddius]

They are a safe place (refuge) for creatures. Mine is a seperate aquarium that is fed from a controlled flow overflow and then pumped back to the main tank. In my refugium I use a deep sand bed and I raise algae in it I also keep a few snails, crabs, piece of live rock and a feather duster that just moved there because my camelback shrimp would not stop picking at it(they had already killed one). I trim the algae ocasionally. The refugium helps keep my nitrates at 0ppm and looks cool. I use regular flourescent lighting for the tank and I keep it on 24hrs. Hope this helps.

 

[von_rahvin]

ok this sounds like something that i need to do, how should i go about building one? are there any sites that would be the best suggestions?

 

[johnnysalt]

Toddius, where in Tx are you?!
Von,
Glad you're open to having a refugium. As you probably found out by now, there are different styles: above-tank, (gravity returned) behind, beside, or below tank. I built a sump out of a 30g tank below my display tank. I have my refugium in a separate section of my sump with its own flow, (using a ball valve) so that I can limit how many gph's it gets. Check out my link below of a diagram of the sump and refugium. I changed the design a little....now the ball valve is just inside the refugium. Inside pic of refugium:

On the left in the 3rd section is a Rio2100...on it's way up, the water T's and only a small % of it goes to the refugium....it overflows back into the return area. The big white ball valves Home Depot sells for 1" pvc are almost $10...forget that, I went with a little gray threaded one for $2. Von, email me (link below) for help on plumbing and designing ideas if you want.

 

[von_rahvin]

hello again, i have been readin and people have been talking about putting mangroves in their refugium. is this a good idea?? i have a 30 gal, (i think) sump with bio balls, should i just pull this out and go with a pure refugium system? would i need to buy a glass tnka to build the refugium out of or would a rubber made thing work? how large? all kinds of neat questions