What is a freshwater refugium?
In fishkeeping, a refugium is an appendage to a marine, brackish, or freshwater fish tank that shares the same water supply. It is a separate sump, connected to the main show tank. For some applications water flow is limited in order to protect plants or animals that require slow flow.
What is the difference between a refugium and a sump?
A sumps purpose is to hold additional water and equipment. A refugium is lit and usually contains macro algae.
What goes in a freshwater sump?
A basic Freshwater Sump Filter can accommodate more filter media than any Canister Filter or Power Filter or HOB Filter….A basic freshwater aquarium sump design consists of three main parts:
- Mechanical Filtration Chamber.
- Biological Filtration Chamber and.
- Return Chamber.
Do I need a refugium in my sump?
You do not need a refugium for a saltwater tank. I would recommend a sump with some sort of mechanical filtration (filter sock or bag). As long as you have sufficient biological filtration within your display tank, keep your bio load reasonable and have efficient skimming you should not need a refugium.
Can a sump be used in a refugium?
With that placement, all the yellowing compounds that the algae release in the refugium will be removed by the chemical filtration media in the sump before the water is pumped back into the main tank. Refugia and sumps can be used with freshwater, saltwater, and brackish tanks.
Which is better a wet dry or a refugium?
In my opinion a refugium is a far better usage of sump space than a wet dry. At best, a wet dry turns water with ammonia into water with nitrate… at best, a refugium turns water with ammonia into pollutant free water…
Can a refugium be in the same water as a fish?
Because a separate refugium does not share the same water like the fish, you can increase the nutrient level in its water above what would be healthy for the fish, but which is still okay for the invertebrates. However, this does not mean that ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate concentrations should be high in the refugium.
Do you need to heat a freshwater refugium?
This is similar to the process of starting the aquarium but a little different. You do not need lighting or water circulation. And as long as the refugium setup is kept indoors and somewhat close to standard room temperature, you will not need any heating. Start with an empty sturdy plastic container (or an aquarium).