Refugium Benefits

[HunterBryan]

I getting a 75 gallon saltwater tank and i will have fish and coral in it and i am thinking about just having a sump with protein skimmer and return. Do i need a refugium or will i be ok without?

[reefgeezer]

If you want a refugium for nutrient reduction... I got rid of mine and the tank is better for it. I attribute the reduced trapped detritus and other wastes to the improvement. I also don't think mine was big enough to make a difference. If you plan on using other nitrate/phosphate reduction methods I'd skip the fuge. If you're not going to use those methods, a big fuge or better yet multiple fuges would be in order.

[t4zalews]

Unless you have a large SEPARATE refugium, you will not notice nutrient reduction. In sump refugiums tend to be detritus traps..the reason why I removed mine. But they are great for pods to reproduce!

[bottled-ocean]

I have one in my tank and its doing well. I have a small pump in my refugium and have a 3 in sand bed and some mangroves and some live rock it's going good.

[mkj]

if an algae scrubber works do that instead. Works better. Plus you can get rid of your skimmer too. lots of threads on RF, just do a search

[marvelousone]

I made a refugium out of a 55 tank. I also have a 75. As for detritus put a power head in the fuge and that will take care of that. My Nitrates stay at zero and I don't have algae growing in the dt. I have a fuge on two of my tanks. I do clean them once a month.

[agv180]

I'm going to make a refuge in the aquarium new I'll put it on the balcony where I save a bulb.


they recommend to put on the refuge, chaeto and mangroves?