fish in refuge?

[dezzydory]

ok this may be a dumb idea but my husband is building a stand for my new tank. i was thinking the sump refuge would make a cute display itself. the refuge itself will be about the size of a 5-10gal aquarium...... would it defeat the purpose to keep a small fish in the refuge?

 

[Bored4ever86]

to a degree it does defeat part of the purpose, its supposed to be a "refuge" from the main tank and your adding more waste by putting a fish in there, as well as a small fish will be a predator for copepods and other small critters that you want. But the majority of the purpose is nutrient export in the form of algae growing, and the ability to remove the nutrients by pulling out algae as it grows so a small fish wont really have an influence on the ability of algae to grow

 

[TotalVapor]

I have had two small fish in the refuge for 3 years. Also live rock, sand, and my cheatos.

I have never had a problem with them being in there. I was actually thinking of putting a tang in there to clean up some of the algae. I just dont know what I would do with the tang once it is cleaned up a bit.

 

[iroll253]

Imo i wouldn't have a fish in my refugium. I would just have a powerhead at the bottom to keep the detritus suspended and have the macro of your choice.

 

[Chichas01]

It's not a refugium if it has fish. The point of a fuge is to have a 'refuge' for pods, worms, snails and other critters that would otherwise be preyed upon by fish or crabs or whatever predators you might have in your display. So, algae, sand rocks, snails are all good. Fish and crabs; no.

 

[returnofsid]

I agree with the other comments. "Refugium" means "Refuge" or "protected." It's a SAFE place for algae to grow and pods to populate. Putting a fish in it does defeat it's purpose.

Specifically for Totalvapor, if you have nuisance algae growing in your fuge, consider it like this... Would you rather it grow in your fuge, or your display? Allowing it to grow in your fuge, plays a part in keeping it out of your display.

 

[bigblue141]

I would stock your fuge with as many different Macros you can get your hands on and stuff it full of PODS.

I would keep fish out of the fuge and use a MUCH larger tank for your fuge

 

[TotalVapor]

Specifically for Totalvapor, if you have nuisance algae growing in your fuge, consider it like this... Would you rather it grow in your fuge, or your display? Allowing it to grow in your fuge, plays a part in keeping it out of your display.

Of course the refuge rather than the tank, but just because it is in the refuge today does not mean it will not be in your tank tomorrow.

From time to time you have to clean our the refuge and it is better to naturally do it with a fish than just ripping it all apart and cleaning it by hand. If you pull it all apart by hand you risk releasing everything you worked so hard to keep out of the main tank in to the main area.

Better to release a fish into the refuge for a little bit, let him feed, and grow on it. When you are done give, sell or trade the fish. I have found over the last several years a hipo tang will eat the cheatos last so when you get down to that you just remove the fish.

I would never use the refuge as another display tank, that defeats the purpose.

 

[Chichas01]

If the fish eats the algea in your fuge, it craps it back out in your tank, thus again defeating the purpose of the fuge. Fuge algae should for the most part be pulled out of your system and discarded as it grows so that you are actually exporting the nutrients out of your system as a whole.

 

[dezzydory]

ok thats what i thought just wanted to get some other ideas and viewpoints!