REFUGIUM QUESTIONS

[SCUBEDREW]

AFTER LOOKING AT THE HOME MADE REFUGIUM ON THE NEW POST, GREAT LOOKING JOB ON THAT. AND READING MANY ARTICLES. I JUST WANTED A "OLD TIMER TO EXPLAIN, IN LAY MANS TERMS, JUST WHAT IS THE BENEFITS OF HAVING ONE. OR DIRECT ME TO A GOOD ARTICLE. I'VE BEEN TRYING TO GET MY NITRATES DOWN TO "0" AND CAN ONLY GET TO "5". WILL THIS REALLY HELP .THIS IS MY MAIN REASON FOR GETTING ONE. IS IT VALID!!

[dakar]

Think a search for refugium on the site would bring you more than you could read in a week.

Not really an 'old timer' but I can relate this much, a macro refuge can make a world of difference... I ran some nitrate tests on the water coming in and going out of my refuge (after it was shut down for a couple of days for a repair), NO3 at where water entered the refuge was at 40ppm nitrate and >5 at the output. Now this is with about 4 inches of sand and a combination of chaeto, and various other algaes mixed togother and some LR rubble at roughly 300gph through the 20g fuge. The tank was still pretty young at the time. But today the results are still amazing, we have two refuges attached to the main system, for the added export ability.

On a side note, I no longer have any detectable phosphates or silicates in the water column at all... without running any Phos-ban or similar products.

They also make for a great place to keep injured fish or anything you want to keep, but isolated from the main population. We somewhat regularly grab a ball of macros from the fuge and shake it out into the main tank to increase the pod population for our manderin. And save some out special for the tangs to munch on.

Hope this is of some help.

[graphixx]

I think Dakar pretty much nailed it. another benefit is being able to hide a lot of equipment. like heaters powerheads and such. but the nutrient export and filtering are much improved on the main tank. your also increasing the total water volume which is good for the tank as well.

[jerryc]

Thous 2 don't leave me anything to add

so my opinion is go for it you wont be sorry