ingredients for freshwater refugium

[JackBlasto]

So anyone out there with a list of things you'd throw into a freshwater refugium? I mean what types of plants, animals, substrate would be most efficient to make the fuge the utmost biological filter? I've done some searching but found no clear list of items one might use. Any advice? Thanks.

 

[JackBlasto]

So, I'm going to toss around some ideas and see if I can get any yays, or nays, or additions:

1) red cherry shrimp
2) Java fern
3) 3 inches gravel
4) t5 lighting on timers coming on at night when the display tank is not lit.

Any thoughts? Thanks

 

[Wy Renegade]

What is it that you are trying to accomplish by including a refugium for freshwater? Generally speaking, in the saltwater world were refugiums are far more common, the purpose of a refugium is two fold; to export nutrients through algae growth and removal, and to provide a safe refuge away from the main tank and potential predators for maintaining a population of healthy invertes that can be redristributed over time into the main tank as a supplemental food source.

If nutrients export is part of the goal, then I would think that fast growing low tech plants that suck up lots of nutrients would be desirable. Things like Elodea, duckweed and water lettuce for example. None of those plants require any type of substrate. If supplemental food is the goal, most people are not using RCS as supplemental food, so I'm not sure why you would include them. Something like fairy shrimp, scuds, or freshwater pods would seem to be far more viable.

If on the other hand, your goal is simply a supplemental safe haven to raise RCS, then that is an entirely different question.

 

[JackBlasto]

Thank you very much for this info. I was just throwing RCS in there for lack of any ideas and was hoping maybe I had one heh..

I will definitely add Elodea, duckweed and water lettuce to my list of good ideas as I think my primary use of this area is to provide nutrient export. I am trying to mimic a setup at a fish store in Pittsburgh that has wonderful Discus display tanks that are filtered using an overflow leading to a refugium sump.

I will also add fairy shrimp, scuds, or freshwater pods to my good list and start researching their potential benefit for Discus.

I am very very new to this and learning a lot so bear with things that might sound completely strange from me, as I'm probably wrong and learning

I appreciate your feedback