whats the benefit of a refugium

[Mckitrick]

i have heard about these and i dont know what the benefit is of having one, other that culturing live rock and keep a supply of copepods in the system. can anyone tell me what you would need one for?

 

[Supa Belle]

Nutrient exporting

 

[Mckitrick]

o anything else

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Slightly improved pH stability if run reverse daylight is sometimes also seen. It's original purpose was as a place for micro-organisms to find "refuge" from fish so the population of pods grows like crazy with a decent refugium. These get pumped into the main display for corals and fish as food.

 

[Mckitrick]

ok ic so its not an absolute must then

 

[Jmkb02]

It really benefits corals and harder fish such as butterflies and dragonets.

 

[Mckitrick]

well yes but as of now i have no corals or dragonets but I really wanted a dragonet so if i ever get one ill get a refugium first

 

[Jmkb02]

Yeah I have one on both my tanks, a reef and a predator. It's a big benefit on a lot of little things, but the biggest is just the overall health of the tank.