Refugiums: Help, Suggestions, and Advice Wanted

[yannifish]

Hello, everyone, I am looking to upgrade to a sump on the near future, and have the option if including a refugium. I've never kept a refugium, and have some questions.
First of all, tanks stats.
I have a 55 gallon tank, and the current stock list is two Ocellaris Clownfish, one LMB, a blue leg hermit, an assortment if snails, and an emerald crab. While I don't plan on haveing corals, it is always possible. I will be using a clear five gallon bucket as my fuge.
Questions:
1) How big of an impact will a refugium have on the tank?
2) How necessary is a refugium?
4) How much light will I need?
5) What kind of algaes should I grow?
6) How do you care for these algae?
7) How much sand should be in the refugium? Live rock?
Thank you in advance, and I welcome all experiences and tips!

 

[beaslbob]

Originally Posted by yannifish
http:///forum/post/3284809
Hello, everyone, I am looking to upgrade to a sump on the near future, and have the option if including a refugium. I've never kept a refugium, and have some questions.
First of all, tanks stats.
I have a 55 gallon tank, and the current stock list is two Ocellaris Clownfish, one LMB, a blue leg hermit, an assortment if snails, and an emerald crab. While I don't plan on haveing corals, it is always possible. I will be using a clear five gallon bucket as my fuge.
Questions:
1) How big of an impact will a refugium have on the tank?
Tremendous. It will balance out a stabilize operation and recycle fish wastes to fish food,
2) How necessary is a refugium?
Like most any single thing a refugium is not absolutely necessary. IMHO it is the single most important and least expensive method of maintaining tank conditions.
4) How much light will I need?
I have heard 3-4 watts per refugium gallon. But that is not cast in concrete.
5) What kind of algaes should I grow?
chaetomorphia is best followed by caulerpas.
6) How do you care for these algae?
give it light and watch it grow
7) How much sand should be in the refugium? Live rock?
personal opinion none.
Thank you in advance, and I welcome all experiences and tips!
Welcome
and all is just my .02

 

[yannifish]

Thank you very much!
So you would recommend no sand? Just out of curiousity, why?
Also, how much flow? I will not be using a 5g bucket anymore, so any recomendations as to how flow should move throuh the refugium?
Lasty, do the algae need to be attached?
Mangroves?

 

[beaslbob]

With chaeto no sand is needed and it is easier to clean. But with other macros like caulerpa then some sand and rocks help get them anchored.
Sand is also stirred up the flow also.
Flow should be fast enough to see the chaeto moving but no so fast everything it getting torn up. Actually that is a very wide range and the actual value is not all the critical.
I would not recommend mangroves although I understand they can be cool. they are trees afterall and eventually will have very wide (like inches) roots and grow to be several feet tall. Best to stick with macros.

 

[yannifish]

Originally Posted by beaslbob
http:///forum/post/3284989
With chaeto no sand is needed and it is easier to clean. But with other macros like caulerpa then some sand and rocks help get them anchored.
Sand is also stirred up the flow also.
Flow should be fast enough to see the chaeto moving but no so fast everything it getting torn up. Actually that is a very wide range and the actual value is not all the critical.
I would not recommend mangroves although I understand they can be cool. they are trees afterall and eventually will have very wide (like inches) roots and grow to be several feet tall. Best to stick with macros.
No mangroves is fine by me.
I think I would like some sand and rocks though, just because I want my fuge to act as a sort of jail for critters that are being a pain in the DT (my hermit), so I want it to have some stuff in it.