I have two questions about my 12gal nano

[clownfish45]

My first questinon is. Setting up refugium I know most set it up in the middle chamber, but what do you put in that chamber? Right now I have LR in there. Do I need to take the rock out and put in sand and calaripa? Or do I leave the rock and put the calaripa on top? And by the way it is a jbj 12gal. Now on to my second question what about buying corals and fish online? Is it good, is it bad? And who and where is the best places to get it from for a good price? I guess thats more like four questions.

 

[Illuminati]

I have personally never been a fan of a fuge in the back chamber.
In my opinion a better option is adding a bag of Purigen and a bag of Chemi-pure back there. They both will help keep nitrates low, Purigen also polishes the water and Chemi-pure helps with Ph which is nice in an enclosed system.
All a fuge does is keep the nitrates down.

If your going to do a fuge you want to use chaeto, it's the better macro-algae.

As for online shopping www.liveaquaria.com is good for fish because of their 14 day gurantee. I have had good luck with www.marinecenter.com for fish as well but they only have an arrive alive policy, not as good as liveaquaria.

My favorite place for corals is
www.purecaptive.com - In FL, everything is aquacultured which is a healthier alternative to wild caught. He can also get anything you are looking for if you send him an e-mail with a wishlist of corals. I haven't really had to go anywhere else.
www.sealifeinc.com is another good site with a top notch guy running it. Also in FL, great looking Florida Ricordias.

 

[Rosseau]

Whether you have sand, rock and algae, just algae, just sand, just rock in your fuge it's all the same.


It's better to have more surface area for bacteria to live on, this means more sand and more rock. Thus the ordering/layering really isn't important.

All that really matters is that you have your algae on the top so that it can receive enough light to live and grow. currently my fuge only has algae in it, this increases the total water volume of my tank and so it takes more to throw my params off. The chaeto algae works great for nitrates and a few other "toxins" in the water. When I can i'll add some sand and rock to it.

 

[clayton07]

You dont have to put sand in the chamber. And you have to put a light in there. Put the Macro algae right on top of the rock. I think you would be better of putting a sapphire skimmer in there rather than a fuge.

and buying livestock online is ok as long as its from a reputable company. I prefere to buy mine in person so I can see what im getting before I get it.