is it worth it to set up a 20 gallons refugium?

[CaptNemo]

Hello everyone.

I got some questions regarding the refugium. I can't take care of my big tank anymore, so i am taking it down and just get up a 40 gallons breeder with some zoa and lps that I already. I am thinking of setting up a 20 gallons tank as a refugium for this 40 breeder. So there will be exactly 15 gallons of water in that 20 gallons refugium. I want to put alot of sea plants? algae in this refugium to help export some of the proteins and grow some pods for my fishes.
1) is it really worth it? since it is so tiny, only 15 gallons of water.
2) What is the best algae to put in that refugium to help export protein?

thanks,

[patsfan1130]

Yes it would definately be worth it. I only run 20g sumps/fuges on my 75 & 90g. Chaeto is a good choice for nutient exportation but that is just one of many.

[maroun.c]

Fuge volume needs to be 10% of tanks volume, yu owill have more than that. My fuge isn't much bigger and I have a 150 g.

[cakemanPA]

Any size fuge is better than none at all. Cheato is great stuff for nutrient export and for pods to live.

[JeF4y]

Not to mention on a smaller system, a 15 gallon increase in water volume can do WONDERS for stability in temp and common parameters..

[ludnix]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15584305#post15584305 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by maroun.c
Fuge volume needs to be 10% of tanks volume.

Why?

[SpencerG]

That's the setup I have, and so far so good. I have chaeto and some miracle mud and sand in there. I think I'm hooked on sumps now.

I used to have a smaller HOB fuge that worked wonders for my 40B. As the previous poster said, any fuge is better than no fuge at all, and I attribute part of the success of the tank to that fuge.