ok filtration know-alls. so i got a lil bored today and started doin some research on refugiums. i'm not super familiar with living filters so maybe someone on here can throw me a bone. is it benefitial to have a refugium on a freshwater tank? if so how big does it need to be? what would be better to keep, inverts, plants, mixture? i'd like to try it out and see what happens but help me out please.
freshwater refugium
- Thread starter bukster
- Start date
yeh its been done. a refugium is a place to put fish plants or inverts. just say u wanna release a fish into an aquairum but u wanna have it 1 inch longer so as to make sure it doesnt get eaten then you would chuck it in till it gets bigger. usually refuges are found in sumps but they are also found as a HOB style. they can also be used to house feeders.(make sure u quarentine them before you chuck them into the fuge). they also have many other uses.
on a fresh water tank it would be a heavily planted tank @ what ever size you want it to be.... would help to controll nitrates.. they work a lot better as sole filters on saltwater than freshwater...I'm still in design for my bog/refugium that will run on my mainsystem and house some of my turtles too
IMO, FW refugiums would only be good if your bio-load is higher than your ability to perform water changes.. a nitrate sponge of sorts.
If this is the case, your bio-load is too high.. or your too lazy for your stocking levels.
Although plants eat Nitrates, they don't consume Dissolved Organics, and you will run into problems.
If this is the case, your bio-load is too high.. or your too lazy for your stocking levels.
Although plants eat Nitrates, they don't consume Dissolved Organics, and you will run into problems.
have anyone ever heard of aquaponics ....if you want to grow plants 
and keep fish 
..this is the one for you...lol
and keep fish ..this is the one for you...lolsorry i may have phrased that wrong. i know what they are and how they work. i was just wondering how big it would have to be to actually make a difference. i have plenty of grow out tanks and that's the last of my worries. just kinda tossing around the idea to extend the bioload of my tank if needed in the future. so if anyone knows the best way to do this (plants, inverts, etc) and what size they should be to make them useful please fill me in.
on ponds a plant filter needs to be between 10-20 % of the ponds volume .so i would say about the same for an aquarium . just make sure you have a nice low flow and if yu make the water flow up through a gravel bed then i think that could be your only filter .
also you may want to look into hydophonics for info on growing any plant in water .
http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/envirohort/426-084/426-084.html
also you may want to look into hydophonics for info on growing any plant in water .
http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/envirohort/426-084/426-084.html
inverts will not help you at all and... and to do this even easier I would consider a drip system before a fuge like I said before size is how big you wanna make it.. bigger would be better with lots of plants... I'm only doing a fuge cause I have this really 
idea in my head plus have nothing better to do with my T5ho and a halide lights...
idea in my head plus have nothing better to do with my T5ho and a halide lights...