DO you use sand in your refugium?

[ralphie16]

What are some things I can put in my refugium? I just built my sump. It is pretty small..only 12"x12"x12" but its the best I can fit.

Should I put sand in it?

How about snails?

Is live rock rubble or larger peices better?

The main purpose I want to acheive from it is pod reproduction to feed my fish population.

I also would like to put macro algae in it to get some phosphate removal but that is secondary to the microfauna reproduction.

 

[alan214]

Re: DO you use sand in your refugium?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9206558#post9206558 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ralphie16
What are some things I can put in my refugium? I just built my sump. It is pretty small..only 12"x12"x12" but its the best I can fit.

Should I put sand in it?

How about snails?

Is live rock rubble or larger peices better?

The main purpose I want to acheive from it is pod reproduction to feed my fish population.

I also would like to put macro algae in it to get some phosphate removal but that is secondary to the microfauna reproduction.

You could put in an inch or 2 of sand. A few snails will help a lot. It doesn't really matter much on the size of the pieces of LR. Most people prefer Chaetomorpha as their macro but I have Feather Caulerpa in mine. It grows fast and when the fuge is full, I harvest it and trade it in at the LFS.

 

[ralphie16]

what is the purpose of sand in the fuge? pods need it?

 

[RedEyeElf]

I run a DSB of fuge mud in mine, obviously not viable unless your fuge is small, or you can get the mud cheaply

then have feather caulerpa, and chaeto

oh and about 1,000,000,000 creepy crawly pods and what not moving around in there

 

[bhdmc]

I have a DSB(5") in my refuge with two large pieces of LR. The only critters are pods and worm in the DSB. I was thinking of putting Nassarius snails, Blue leg hermit crabs, etc to help keep the DSB clean. To fed your fish the live pods, you should have the refuge's return gravity fed back to the main tank. I use Cheato as macro algae. With the correct lighting and the addition of Iron, it grow fast.

 

[Navyblue]

I remember reading somewhere that different substrate promote different stuffs. Basically the smaller is the particle size the smaller is the type of live that you are encouraging to grow. Such as sugar fine sand is good for promoting plantonic food for corals, rubbles is good for pods and etc. So I guess it depends on what is your objective.

 

[benray4fun]

I just put a 10 gallon in the cabinet of my 90 and it has a dsb of 5-6" of
oolitic aragonite sand. I just ordered caulerpa, live sand, amphipod breeding kit, reef worms, mini-stars & other fuge essentials from www.ipsf.com.
All i have to do now is finish plumbing it in while it's in route, which will be today sometime.

The finer and deeper the sand (up to 6") the better the filtering capacity for your system (denitrification). Also, the more diverse: pods, snails, etc. the better. Live rock or rubble doesn't matter, it's just preference, cause all you need is enough room to accomodate your inhabitants. Sounds like you're on the right track...:thumbsup:

 

[kfowler]

I use no sand at all. Just LR rubble and Chaeto. There's tons of life down there. I intend to add a snail b\c the algae is starting to get out of control.

 

[bpd964]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1042513&highlight=refugium

I use the remains of sifted southdown sand. The plain southdown thats really fine grain is in my display..

Check this link for pics of my pod fuge..

 

[catdoc]

I have 2 fuges: the below-tank fuge is for nutrient export and I run it bare-bottom with chaeto. The above-tank fuge is for pod prod'n and has a dsb, some rubble, and halimeda. FWIW, both fuges are crawling with pods, stomatella snails, and colonista snails. I don't think the sand makes much difference in the number of pods from what I'm seeing.