Starting a refugium

To have a refugium what is the basic info I need to know to have one, and what plants and algeas are necessary for a refugium to work properly? And if I even should have one for a ten gallon tank. Any answers whould help, thanks in advance.


Gabe

 

Gabe, here is my opinion on a fuge for your setup.

One of my systems is a 20 gallon long and I have a sump and a fuge attached. I have added all this because I have a high bio load in my tank. I have 4 small fish, too include a Mandarin. As well as many soft corals / Zoo's. I have set my system up with my fuge above my main tank. That way the food for my mandarin never goes through a pump. Also I need to lower my nitrates for the Coral. This is just the way I do it.

"I" would not put more than 2 or 3 small fish in a 10 gal. If you decide to add corals several companies sell hang on the back fuge systems. I also am of the opinion that Chetomorpha is the best algae for a fuge.

Being young, money may be tight for you, one way to do a fuge for a 10g would be to have another 10 gal next to your display tank. Only, the fuge tank need to be 6 or more inches higher. Have the elevated tank drilled on the side or back to drain into the display tank. use a very small pump or powerhead to run water from your display tank to your new fuge. Add some clean up critters in the fuge, and you have another Fuge/display tank to watch things grow in.

However, if you use about 10 - 15 lbs of live rock, 1 or 2 small fish, do water changes with RO water once a week and have no corals you do not need a fuge. but they are fun to set up and fun to watch the micro life. Good luck with this. And if any of this doesnt make sense, let us know.

 

Perfectly clear, thanks for the great advise.


gabe

 

Ping,
I am thinking about doing this. Why does it have to be higher? Is there any reason it can't be lower?

 

Coraline, I am not an expert but I would guess so that your fuge water would be flowing into the main by way of gravity and not a pump as you need to use a pump to get the water from the main tank to the fuge. It would not be possible to use two pumps that exactly moved the same amount of water and you would have an overflow in one tank or the other. I hope i explained that ok.

 

the refugium will allow you to have more surface area and more water volume, which is a very good thing in your enclosed system. It is also an area of seclusion for smaller organisms to be protected. For example I have small peppermint shrimp in my tank about 1/2 in. in length I purchased real cheap. If I put them in my reef tank, my morray eel or other fish would eat them. But because they are in seclusion, I and more importantly, the shrimp have nothing to worry about as far as predation is concerned. When they get bigger, I have the option to put them in my main tank.