Refugia

bertoni · 09/15/2007, 04:52 PM

A refugium is an auxiliary tank or separated area much like a sump, but is used to grow various organisms that can't or shouldn't be placed in the display tank.

One common use is growing a macroalga, which is then harvested to remove nutrients from the system. Many macroalgae can attach to rock and thus cause problems in a display, so keeping them in a refugium is a good approach. Also, many fish like to eat macroalgae and might consume them faster than they can grow.

Another common use is to grow small animals, like amphipods, copepods, and mysid shrimp, so that they can migrate to the main tank as a food source. Such animals often are hunted so much by fish that they cannot reproduce rapidly enough in the display.

09/15/2007, 04:52 PM	#1
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	Refugia A refugium is an auxiliary tank or separated area much like a sump, but is used to grow various organisms that can't or shouldn't be placed in the display tank. One common use is growing a macroalga, which is then harvested to remove nutrients from the system. Many macroalgae can attach to rock and thus cause problems in a display, so keeping them in a refugium is a good approach. Also, many fish like to eat macroalgae and might consume them faster than they can grow. Another common use is to grow small animals, like amphipods, copepods, and mysid shrimp, so that they can migrate to the main tank as a food source. Such animals often are hunted so much by fish that they cannot reproduce rapidly enough in the display. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni Last edited by bertoni; 12/10/2009 at 06:21 PM.