A Tropical Saltwater Aquarium Refugium

Today I want to briefly touch on the oft-misunderstood and somewhat mysterious refugium or “fuge,” as it is often referred to in the hobby. This entry is not meant to be a comprehensive article on refugia, but rather I hope it might inspire you to add a refugium to your existing marine aquarium set-up.

What is a Refugium?

The origin of the word refugium is rooted in the common term “refuge,” and that’s exactly what a refugium provides for your marine aquarium. A refugium is a refuge for macroalgae, pods and certain interesting species that may not survive in your display tank as a result of predation. Do you need a refugium? While I’d hesitate to go so far as to say you need one (uness, of course, you keep dragonets or anthias), I definitely recommend you seriously consider adding a refugium to your system.

Refugium Benefits – The Short List

Why do I strongly recommend adding a fuge to most systems? For starters, a properly maintained refugium—even a small one—will prove beneficial to virtually any and all marine aquarium set-ups. More specifically, a refugium:

·         provides a refuge in which healthy pod populations (excellent food for species such as anthias and dragonets) will thrive.

·         provides a place where various herbivorous foods (e.g., macroalgae) can be grown without being consumed by your herbivores until you harvest it.

·         provides additional overall water volume to your system.

·         can mediate daily pH fluctuations secondary to your lighting schedule.

·         can serve (depending on size) as an emergency holding tank for a harassed animal (although you should always have a QT/hospital tank at the ready).

·         promotes nutrient export through regular trimming and disposal of cultivated macroalgea.

…the list goes on and on, but you get the point. A refugium is really a no-brainer, but how do you set it up?

The Plug & Play Refugium

There are a number of ways to plumb a refugium as part of your current set-up. Perhaps the easiest is to use a commercially manufactured HOB (hang on the back) refugium which can, as the name suggests, be hung on the back of either the display tank itself or the sump. Some of these refugia are shipped with a powerhead, but if not, the refugium can be powered with a small, inexpensive one you purchase separately. These commercially manufactured refugia are about as plug-and-play as it gets, but there are other options including sumps that have a “middle chamber” designated as a refugium and my favorite, the display refugium.

The Display Refugium – A Sample Set-Up

If you have the space, I recommend plumbing a display refugium to your system. A display refugium? What’s that? A display refugium is a refugium that is “on display” either above, below or beside your display tank. I’ll use one of my own set-ups (pictured above) to illustrate what I mean.

In this particular set-up, I have plumbed a 10-gallon refugium to a 30-gallon display tank. The refugium, which sits on a shelf below the display tank, is gravity fed from the display tank’s overflow. I have reduced the flow to the refugium by splitting the overflow from the main tank with two ball valves—one to the refugium and one to the sump. The refugium then gravity feeds, by way of a standpipe, to the last chamber (after the protein skimmer) of the set-up’s sump.

Why drain the refugium to a point after the protein skimmer? Does it really matter? I think it does because I want to allow some of the organic material and pods from the refugium to make their way into the display tank by way of the return pump. The protein skimmer may pull these out of the water.

This is the basic set-up, and it works very efficiently in my experience. Don’t forget that, because it is “on display,” you have the opportunity to keep some interesting species in the refugium that may not survive in your main tank.

Deep Sandbed and Macroalgae

Regardless of how you incorporate a refugium into your system, you will probably want to employ a deep sandbed (I like using a commercially available mud product) and grow macroalgae such as Chaetomorpha (pictured left). I also like to jump-start the pod population by adding cultured pods to the newly established aquarium. Don’t stop there though! I grow mangroves and seagrasses in one of my display refugia, which creates a fascinating biotope adding overall appeal to my system.

In short, a refugium is a great way to enhance your existing marine aquarium both in terms of health and interest. If you use your imagination, you can create some absolutely stunning and unique displays.

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