What's in your refugium?
- Thread starter 20gallon
- Start date
pbienkiewi
Member
i ditto funkman
T
thomas712
Guest
Refugium
Like NMreef I try to maintain a filtration tank which to me is its own living breathing ecosystem that just happens to be attached to the main tank.
I have a good 4.5-5 inch sand bed made from ootlic style aragonite sand.
Chaetomorpha algae and Several hunks of liverock.
I have witnessed the pod larva floating in the water column, I have a growing number of amphipods, copepods, isopids and have several chitons running around.
I have Fire worms, Terebellidae, Cirratulids and Sabella worms, melanostigma, chaetopterid worms, and spirobidae worms all over the glass rocks and even the heater.
I also have a couple of unknown hermit crabs, a red leg hermit.
A fighting conch, micro snails, Turbo snails, Stometella vara , a nassarious snail and astrina starfish.
There are even sponges growing in there.
I did put a mini brittle star in once but never saw it again, shame to because it had 6 arms.
I even have jewel anemones growing in there.
Thomas
Like NMreef I try to maintain a filtration tank which to me is its own living breathing ecosystem that just happens to be attached to the main tank.
I have a good 4.5-5 inch sand bed made from ootlic style aragonite sand.
Chaetomorpha algae and Several hunks of liverock.
I have witnessed the pod larva floating in the water column, I have a growing number of amphipods, copepods, isopids and have several chitons running around.
I have Fire worms, Terebellidae, Cirratulids and Sabella worms, melanostigma, chaetopterid worms, and spirobidae worms all over the glass rocks and even the heater.
I also have a couple of unknown hermit crabs, a red leg hermit.
A fighting conch, micro snails, Turbo snails, Stometella vara , a nassarious snail and astrina starfish.
There are even sponges growing in there.
I did put a mini brittle star in once but never saw it again, shame to because it had 6 arms.
I even have jewel anemones growing in there.
Thomas
escape2thewater
Active Member
5" DSB (oolitic aragonite) with lots of LR rubble. Feather caulerpa macro algae, about half a dozen mangroves, a couple cone snails, lots of misc pods & worms, and even some GSP & Zenia.
Escape
Escape
jer4916
Active Member
I have miracle mud in my refugium, I personally love it, i never dose my tank, my levels stay perfect...its the easiest tank i've ever taken care of. Many who've never used the product will condone it...and say its hog wash... i use it and love it....if you ask any person who actully USES the product they will have nothing but good things to say about it...other then the price. Reminder it is expensive...but it works..and i dont waste money on chemicals.
up to you, But i say use it!
its great stuff!
~Chris
oh yes... no i do not mix my sand and mud... i have sand in my display, i use an inch of sand in my display.
up to you, But i say use it!
its great stuff!
~Chris
oh yes... no i do not mix my sand and mud... i have sand in my display, i use an inch of sand in my display.
T
thomas712
Guest
Originally Posted by rob_ou
I've never really understood the purpose of a refugium...can someone please explain the benifits?
Refugiums enjoy a very popular area in our hobby, there really isn't a tremendous amount of maintanence with them, least I have not had to do to much to mine other than trim the macro algae.
So lets see:
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.
I'm sure there are some other benifits as well that I missed.
Thomas
I've never really understood the purpose of a refugium...can someone please explain the benifits?
Refugiums enjoy a very popular area in our hobby, there really isn't a tremendous amount of maintanence with them, least I have not had to do to much to mine other than trim the macro algae.
So lets see:
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.
I'm sure there are some other benifits as well that I missed.
Thomas
lamaface
Member
I be having a 2" deep crushed coral bed (Wish i didn't, doesn't do anything but grow copepods)
2 acro coral skeletons that died in my die out.
1 tiny 1" firefish which i picked up from my lfs for $10 (R60)
lotsa caulerpa ect
bugs, sponges, a mussel that was cultured be me... grew from an invisible individual into a grey 2" mussel in about 2 months.
Heaters, pumps, a hermit and a little crab.
2 acro coral skeletons that died in my die out.
1 tiny 1" firefish which i picked up from my lfs for $10 (R60)
lotsa caulerpa ect
bugs, sponges, a mussel that was cultured be me... grew from an invisible individual into a grey 2" mussel in about 2 months.
Heaters, pumps, a hermit and a little crab.
blazehok68
Active Member
4-5 " Sand Bed
A Ton Of Cheato
Couple Of Chunks Of Live Rock
Couple Of Hermit Crabs
And A Couple Of Turbo Snails.
Im Gonna Take The Turbos Out Though Cause All They Do Is Suck On The Glass And I Want Something To Stir Up The Sand Bed. Anybody Have Any Suggestions?? Possibly Want To Trade Something W/ Me??
A Ton Of Cheato
Couple Of Chunks Of Live Rock
Couple Of Hermit Crabs
And A Couple Of Turbo Snails.
Im Gonna Take The Turbos Out Though Cause All They Do Is Suck On The Glass And I Want Something To Stir Up The Sand Bed. Anybody Have Any Suggestions?? Possibly Want To Trade Something W/ Me??
harndog
Member
Im Gonna Take The Turbos Out Though Cause All They Do Is Suck On The Glass And I Want Something To Stir Up The Sand Bed. Anybody Have Any Suggestions?? Possibly Want To Trade Something W/ Me??
I bought a sand sifting star for my 75 and he has lived up to his name he really stirs the sand bed up. I also got some nasuris snails they also do a good job on sand. And last but not least my GSM loves to swish sand around with his tail. lol
I bought a sand sifting star for my 75 and he has lived up to his name he really stirs the sand bed up. I also got some nasuris snails they also do a good job on sand. And last but not least my GSM loves to swish sand around with his tail. lol