Fuge- needed or not?

[T-6 Driver]

How benificial are refugiums?

I'm not planning on setting up a refugium in my sump at this point, per the advice of my LFS. His take is that I'll have enough pod growth in the live rock I'm getting for the main tank, and that I don't have room for much more than the skimmer +plumbing in the sump (17 gallon). Than being said, I may try to find a way to make it fit if having one makes a significant difference.

Thought and experiences?

 

[divewsharks]

do you plan on keeping any fish that are soley pod-eaters? alot of fish will eat them to supplement their diet so that is a benefit, if there is not a safe place to reproduce, a population can be decimated; plus if you set one up you can place macroalgae down their as another way to remove excess nutrients from your tank.

 

[Jim_S]

Go with the fuge. You will NOT be disapointed.

 

[Dubbin1]

The guy at your LFS is a moron. Go with the refuge right from the start. There is more to them then just for growing pods.

 

[T-6 Driver]

Along the same lines--how big does the fuge need to be? I think I'll only have 4-5" of space available, not including the baffles.

 

[divewsharks]

how tall can you make it?

 

[T-6 Driver]

9" tall, give or take

 

[orchidsnfish]

IMO the best and most important part of a fuge is the nutrient export. Very few tanks I've seen have 0 nitrates without one. May be possible but the fuge will help a lot. The pod thing is just an added benefit. Although I spend a lot of time on my tummy looking at the fuge and all the little stars, snails, pods, etc. Go with the fuge. They are cool an heck and very useful too.

Angela

 

[Secondgen]

You could always plumb a fuge in to your existing sump by adding another tank off to the side if space is an issue in the sump.

 

[wetWolger]

any size is better than nothing....work it in....you wont regret it

 

[JeBuS]

i use a 10gal garbage can as my sump. does not have to be fancy if its hidden. lol

 

[SuperNerd]

Connect a fuge...

 

[tangreef68]

Fuges take out the nutrients from your take they could be beneficial. they are easy to make

 

[tangreef68]

you could even make one out of an old power filter. check out the diy forum

 

[barrysalt]

It's pretty straight-forward: the bigger the fuge, and the sooner you get it installed, the better your whole system will be.

 

[The Reefer91]

about the idea of using a power filter. isn't that a little to small? or is it just a case of "a small one is better than nothing"?

 

[T-6 Driver]

Reefer91- not sure I understand your question