Refugium (a.k.a Fuge) Size and Contents

HumanIMDB · 02/21/2008, 11:55 AM

For those looking for information on what size your refugium should be or what to put in it, here two great links:

Refugia by Jonathan Bertoni
Reefkeeping 101 â€“ Sumps! by Marc Levenson

In the article by Marc levenson, he lists the contents of the refugium as:

The refugium is not a place for fish, shrimp or crabs. One inch of sand (or more), some live rock rubble, perhaps, and some macroalgae such as Cheatomorpha are all that is necessary to create a very interesting and useful biotope in your reef system. A few snails can keep the surfaces clean in that zone, and a cucumber can keep the sand clean of detritus.

My questions are:

1. What type(s) of snails/cucumbers? I'm assuming Nassarius Snails (Nassarius sp.) and a Black Knobby (Stichopus chloronotus) or a Tiger Tail (Holothuria thomasi) cucumber. But we all know how to spell assume...

2. How many to get? The refugium we're going to attach to our AGA92 will be 12" sq x 18" high (~11 gallons) with at least 6-8 inches of sand, a pound or two of live rock rubble, and some cheato.

HammerDude33 · 02/21/2008, 12:24 PM

i suggest against nassarius snails. if you want things to grow in the refugium, you'll need a food source in the sand bed. nassarius snails will deplete it completely.

i wouldn't even bother with a cucumber if you have a filter sock and skimmer before the refugium. there won't be much detrius on the sand bed.
when you put chaeto, or caulerpa, or your macro of choice in the refugium, you'll get all the critters you need with it.
the only thing that cleans my refugium is the creatures that appeared on their own.
stomatella snails and misis/misid...tiny brittle stars, none of which, i purposely added to it.

i just got 3 handfulls of macros, from 3 different sources. now it looks like a miniature jurassic park in there!

02/21/2008, 11:55 AM	#1
HumanIMDB Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Winnipeg, MB Posts: 1,556	Refugium (a.k.a Fuge) Size and Contents For those looking for information on what size your refugium should be or what to put in it, here two great links: Refugia by Jonathan Bertoni Reefkeeping 101 â€“ Sumps! by Marc Levenson In the article by Marc levenson, he lists the contents of the refugium as: The refugium is not a place for fish, shrimp or crabs. One inch of sand (or more), some live rock rubble, perhaps, and some macroalgae such as Cheatomorpha are all that is necessary to create a very interesting and useful biotope in your reef system. A few snails can keep the surfaces clean in that zone, and a cucumber can keep the sand clean of detritus. My questions are: 1. What type(s) of snails/cucumbers? I'm assuming Nassarius Snails (Nassarius sp.) and a Black Knobby (Stichopus chloronotus) or a Tiger Tail (Holothuria thomasi) cucumber. But we all know how to spell assume... 2. How many to get? The refugium we're going to attach to our AGA92 will be 12" sq x 18" high (~11 gallons) with at least 6-8 inches of sand, a pound or two of live rock rubble, and some cheato. __________________ Chris Rivers Will do computer support for frags. :) Click on the Red House to see our AGA92 Corner Reef Tank Build thread. Current Tank Info: 10 Gal (Aqualight 96W Quad 50/50, AquaClear Power Filter 70 with Chaeto lit by 6500K Bulb, AquaClear Power Head 20, 50w Tronic Heater), 92 Gal All-Glass Corner (Cycling)

02/21/2008, 12:24 PM	#2
HammerDude33 Moved On Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Eastern, Pa - USA Posts: 258	i suggest against nassarius snails. if you want things to grow in the refugium, you'll need a food source in the sand bed. nassarius snails will deplete it completely. i wouldn't even bother with a cucumber if you have a filter sock and skimmer before the refugium. there won't be much detrius on the sand bed. when you put chaeto, or caulerpa, or your macro of choice in the refugium, you'll get all the critters you need with it. the only thing that cleans my refugium is the creatures that appeared on their own. stomatella snails and misis/misid...tiny brittle stars, none of which, i purposely added to it. i just got 3 handfulls of macros, from 3 different sources. now it looks like a miniature jurassic park in there!