Setting Up my First Refugium

[tcarroll]

Been doing a little research and decided to add one to my tank.Whats the best subtrate to use? Mudd or Sand?

 

[yote]

I'd say flip a coin on that one.

 

[Piggy]

The choice is up to you. I used a deep sand bed with live rock. Plus chaeto algae.

 

[Bifferwine]

I use sand in mine.

 

[reeffreak]

Either one will work.Many people even mix the two.I prefer sand because its cheap.Mudd is even more beneficial for burying copepods and worms plus release trace elements.

 

[tcarroll]

OK Well i ordered a hang on the side of tank mount,going to mount it on my sump.I ordered some caletopra i think thats how you spell it.Where else is a good place to get some plants at?E-Bay?

 

[Bifferwine]

I'm guessing you mean caulerpa. A better macro algae is chaetomorpha (chaeto). I got a ziplock bag of chaeto off of Ebay for $5.

 

[fatman]

What you should choose for your refugium mainly depends on what you expect from your refugium. Are you interested in controlling pH swing in your display tank, maintaining dissolved oxygen levels, maintaining trace elements, removing nitrates, exporting nutrients that might feed microalgae, or pod production. Different choices favor different things. Plus water flow and lighting make a difference. Different life forms often do better in different sized substrates. Some actually prefer rubble. Some life forms need detritus where some do fine with dissolved organics. Some feed on bacteria. Most people these days seem to be using refugiums to grow macro algae so as to export nutrients that would feed micro algae and raise nitrate levels, and to minimize the change in the pH between day and night in the displays tanks pH. If that is your reason then all that is important is that your refugium have enough water flowing through it maintain the same water parameters as your display tank and to be supplied with a light for your macro algae timed opposite your display tank light cycle. Matters besides those would needed to be decided based upon what your additional expectations are from your refugium. Some people consider their refugiums as small display tanks and even add some small crabs, or fish and such that could not be kept in their main display tank.