Do tanks need refugiums??

[rawshotz]

What are peoples thoughts on reef tanks having refugiums

 

[coral diver]

It will help you to control your nitrate and the population of coco-pods

 

[glOckcOma]

ahahaha "Coco - pods".

Do you mean Copepods.

Refugiums are very beneficial rawshotz, they are highly recommended.

 

[mikedege]

Coco-pods taste better! :beer:

 

[MechaSamurai]

If you feed your fish coco-pods they get all hopped up on the sugar for a while and then crash and want to watch TV... where they advertise that kind of stuff.

Seriously though, I wish I had a fuge, I'm planning to have one as part of my next big upgrade. More water volume is always good for stability and it offers a good place to add beneficial algae (or mangroves). Some people like to acclimate new livestock there so it isn't in as much shock when it gets dumped into the display with other livestock. I've heard of a few people using it like a prison for misbehaving fish while they arrange for a sale or trade. If you have descent lighting you can use it to grow out frags.

 

[pako73]

I believe having a refugium helps out in many ways!

I've thrown unwanted fish in my fuge before I send them back to the LFS but I've never acclimated fish...always used drip method. I also keep mangroves and several types of algae along with some LR and a DSB.

 

[BADFISH]

i dont run a fuge. just have to do more water changes. I use to have a fuge and to be honest when I took it down i did not see any difference at all.

 

[sabazerehi]

i think you can still run a clean, stable tank without a fuge but it really does make life easier. like it was said, you can throw unwanted fish in there, a place to hide equipment (skimmer, heater) so the tank looks nicer. and if you have chaeto, a lot of people run the lights on a reverse cycle to help keep ph more stable, so it doesn't drop at night.

 

[redseven]

yep, fuge can also stabilize your ph if you have a light there to alternate between your main tank.