Possible silly question

Ok i have been working with my tanks for over 2 years now. and recently i have been reading alot, and i mean ALOT, about refugiums. Should i use one, why would you use one? what are the benefits, what are the draw backs, and what size tank should be the smallest that uses a refugium? thanks.

 

The benefits of a refugium are many. In a nut shell, they are : increased water volume, nutrient export of nitrates and phosphates, helps stabilize pH changes at night, a place to cultivate copepods and algae as a food source for your fish and a place to keep your skimmer and heater. I cant think of any drawbacks to a refugium. As far as size is concerned, the bigger the better for increased total water volume of your tank and to have as much macro algae as possible to reap the benefits of nutrient export. For example, I have a 30g refuge/sump under my 120g 60" long tank and would go larger if I could fit a larger tank under the cabinet. You could use a refugium for just about any size tank IMO.
Hope this helps some.

 

[FONT=&quot]+1 to you on that note.

Also, it doesn’t have to be the same tank as a sump. I currently use both with different tanks. I have a 55gallon tank with a 20gallon sump and a 10gallon refugium, which might be being switch to a 20gallon as well. Like he said the bigger the better as you can hold more macro for the nutrient export, and cultivating live copepods and other creatures. The more water you have also the less fluctuation in the ph and other chems in the tank. I actually have my refugium set up right next to my main tank as I and other people like to sit there and pick out these tiny weird creatures. In fact you might have seen my post where I found some rare species in mine... Just saying I don’t think there are side effects just benefits, other then the initial cost You will make it back in the long run as you wont have die off in the tank, you are getting food source for the tank, and possibly another display tank if you set it up good. Hope that helps a lil[/FONT]