do i need a refuge???

i have a 20 gaLLON WITH DEEP SAND BED AND THE BEST GRADE A , #1 CANISTER filter i could find and corals and 3 fish and i also have a rbta 4 inches and anemones poop

 

A refugium would bolster your filtration. A lot depends on your tank parameters and what you are trying to grow. If you dont have any problems I would mess with it. If you want to make changes or do something that would alter your tank parameters then you would need to let us know that type of info. As it sits I dont know if anyone can answer this question without further detail.

 

short answer no, better answer is yes! you don't NEED it , but its only gonna help you keep things stable and maintained! Nothing negative to having it, only positive!

 

Im in the middle of making a 5.5 gallon refuge for my 29 Biocube.

 

I only have limited experience with refuges, but based on that experience I do not think they are needed. In my opinion they need to be quite large (20-50% system volume) to have a noticeable impact on water quality.

 

i respectfully disagree! I have a hob CPR fuge with miracle mud and chaeto! The mud replenishes nutrients, the chaeto removes nitrates, and it grows pods like crazy! While bigger is always better, anytime you can add benefits like that only can help!

 

How many pounds of LR do you have in your tank? Are you running a skimmer?

 

since your running a canister filter, those things can become nitrate traps a refuge would help you remove some excess nutrients. A refuge will help on smaller tanks because you are increasing the total amount of water in your system which will make it harder for you to have large param swings as opposed to just your 20g. 20g + 10g = 30g now.

Also i saw you were using a rio nano protien skimmer from another thread. That skimmer is junk, i would replace it as soon as you can. Tons of bad reviews around about it. I do believe it is the cheapest skimmer out like 23 bucks new.

Just curious how much sand is in your tank? What grade of sand did you use? For your DSB.

If your asking if its something you need, short answer is No. but it will help out by increasing water volume, a seperate place for pods to grow, and a space for chaeto to remove nutrients. All good things. One of my tanks is run with just LR and sand and a weekly water changes and it does fine. Its a fowlr. So simplicity does work, just my params would not be considered spot on, nor would i be able to grow corals in conditions like this, but my puffers wouldnt allow it anyways lol.