refuggium: LR or sand

[fishlips12]

Currently I have one chunk of LR in my refuggium in the hopes that the macro alge will root in the LR. Am I better off with replacing the rock with sand. Also what critters would you recommend to add to the refuggium? Right now I have a damsel that in there. He is being punished for now and later he goes back to the LFS.
TIA

 

[loganj]

I would put both in there...LR and LS. I can't think of any reason not to. I don't think you'd want to fill the fuge up with rock, but a few pieces won't hurt a thing.

 

[Dewey]

refuggium is this the same as a sump?? Thanks

 

[fishfreek]

refuggium is this the same as a sump?? Thanks

Not quite.

A refuggium by its definition is any vessle that you have setup to cultivate a specific form of life that you cant easily or readly grow in your main tank due to preditation by fish, inverts, etc.

A sump is simply a vessle of water that you use to a) increase the water capacity of the system b) put mechanical devices like heaters, skimmer, and filter media in vs having it in the display tank.

Some people convert part of their sump into a refuge but by definition they are different.

What you put in your rufuge is kind of dependant on what you want to cultivate in it. For example if you want to culitvate pods and worms then you might want your refuge to cointain liverocks and rock rubble and the refuge will not need to be lit. If you want to grow macro algae then you might elect more for a sand bed refuge and you would need it to be lit with a decent amount of intensity.

You can even have more than 1 refuge on your tank. For example you might have two refuges on your tank both with a distict purpose.