Tip of the Day – 7/18/2012

Don’t have room in your sump for a refugium section? Well, why not add a separate, externally located refugium?  The benefits of using macroalgae to remove nutrients from the water are very obvious, and the algae also serves as a breeding ground for various invertebrates such as amphipods and bristleworms. Unfortunately, these algae growing setups don’t always fit into the design scheme of every aquarium, as there’s usually little real estate for an extra long sump with its own built-in refugium. In light of this, the refugium can be elevated above the sump, or crammed into the last little bit of space that hasn’t been claimed by other hardware. If you do want to add a refugium to the mix, just make sure it’s big enough. If it’s too small, then there’s almost no point to adding it in the first place.