Fish in a fuge?

Would it be possible to add a chromis or damsel to a fuge? Not really for any purpose, just for looks. I just upgraded my sump and have some chaeto in there right now. Thought it would be nice to have something living. Not sure if a shrimp or something else is appropriate besides a small fish.

 

A "fuge" by true definition is a refuge where there are no predators. The term these days is often used to describe a place to grow macro algae however. If you are really trying to run a "true fuge" just about any fish would be counter-productive I think. If your goal is not to create a predator free area then I don't see any problems with adding fish.

 

Agreed. One major problem I see with today's fuge is that it's becoming a second DT that has little to no benefit to the main tank.

Just my two cents.

 

No fish if you want little shrimp and lots of pods to procreate I have seen some really pretty looking refugiums but I think I will agree with RA and Bill and say they are more for looks rather then benefiting the Display tank.

Heidi

 

I have my purple dottyback in mine, since it can't behave when I add a new fish to my DT. He dosen't stay in there much, he likes it more in my return area.

 

Picked up a chromis for it, then moved it to the DT after two days. Kind of felt sorry for the little guy

The fuge served as a nice little QT for him though.

 

If your fuge is connected to your DT then it isn't a QT. The point of a QT is that is an entirely separate system from the DT so that you can quarantine new additions before they go into the DT.

 

I know--but it served to acclimate him without being harassed by the rest of the tankmates. I guess QT was poor word choice.

 

Ahh. In that case the fuge works great.