what are the basic benifits for a refurium

[newfishliny]

I hear alot of you talking about it and setting one up doesnt seem to be aproblem to me.
I have mostly fish but would get into some beginner corals, will I get better water quality with it or are there more advantages.
thanks
don LINY

 

[broncofish]

The primary reason why I added a refugium to my reef aquarium was an attempt to lower nitrate levels which were about 30 parts per million (ppm). I saw a couple of news group postings stating that after adding a planted refugium to a reef aquarium, nitrate levels of the aquarium dropped to undetectable levels, so I gave it a try and it worked for me as well. The theory is that as the algae grows, it takes up various nutrients, such as nitrate, phosphate and ammonium, out of the water. The algae can then be occassionally pruned and thrown away. Macro algae can be given to a friend, sold to the LFS or fed to your fish. There are numerous types of refugiums such as deep sand bed, surge, slow flow, fast flow, planted, live rock, sump, fauna, plankton, lit, unlit, and many combinations of the above.

 

[broncofish]

By the way I did not write that...I copied it from a web site a while back, and I have no idea why I saved it but...it works here

 

[reef fool]

I basically added a refugium for the same reasons as stated above and had the same outcome...Low trates. They also help out your pod population by offering a predator free enviroment for them to live and breed. My refugium has made a big difference in my corals and overall tank stability.

 

[newfishliny]

Originally posted by broncofish
By the way I did not write that...I copied it from a web site a while back, and I have no idea why I saved it but...it works here
will my wet dry have any effect on one and what do i add to start one.
is a 30 gal long a good start
don

 

[broncofish]

Here is an ugly pic of mine. IMO I would ditch the wet dry(I assume you use bio balls). I also don't use a skimmer though(some people think I'm crazy ) My levels are awesome though and my water looks good. My fuge is only 10g but I want bigger, yo should see bangguys his is 900 gallons and takes up a parking space in his garage.