What Is Pretty in a REFUGIUM??

I'm leaning toward making my refugium a eye appealing tank itself under my main tank. i've already figured out how to partition off the ends so the inlet and sump/outlet pump and skimmer will behind doors with the center refugia area to see. I would like to know what to add to make it colorful or interesting as well as functional as the filter. I don't want it just full of algae or over run with plants.
So i guess the question is what critters look cool and do bio-filtration too??
thanks.

 

Well my 12'x12" rerfugium has 4" of live sand, live rock & live rock rubble, 4 Nassaurius snails, 2 Scarlet hermits, a pair of Banded Sleeper Gobies, and three species of caulerpa. Not very exciting, but a good pod producer and nitrate and phosphate exporter. Very functional yet not flashy. You'll have a tough time getting both.

 

Thanks. I really didn't mean flashy, just not a huge nest of just boring rock and caulerpa. WOW 12 FEET did you say or did you mean 12"x12". as you can see i'm using a 20 short, i figure 24" in length i can devide it into thirds, intake and sump sections will take about 14" combined with a 10"x12" area for the refugium. is this ok?

 

Mangroves are cool for a fuge. They look sweet, and are effective in the filtration process. Look into these.

 

Yes 12" x 12", oops. It's a 29 gallon long. Same foot print as your 20 gallon long but taller.

 

thanks dave i will. that will suit the surroundings where we are. do you know of any pic galleries with mangrove refugs? i'll try a google search and see what i come up with. by the by dave, what lfs do you frequent?? i've been to several, and you know got several opinions, different of course. so who do you trust??

have you ever heard of http://www.reeftopia.com/index.htm

 

Be sure you don't let any mangrove leaves fall back in the water and release the nasty stuff they have exported back into the water column!

 

good tip, but now you bring to mind a tree growing out of my refug. really??? how big or little is the mangrove to be?? i'm gonna need more research:>

 

I've had a half-starved Mangrove sitting in a pint class with some beach sand and water for over a year now. Like most things, depends on how much food it has. Mine definitely doesn't get fed that much, yet it's over a foot tall.

I've seen mangroves over 10 feet tall in the BioSphere2, so yeah, there is some concern in a stand, might have to prune it like bonzai's.

These are from the 3reef link library:

http://www.twolittlefishies.com/images/mangrove_manual.pdf

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/apr2002/feature.htm