Refugium questions

[Fishn28]

Im looking at starting a Refugium in my fluval eco 13.5 second chamber

Do refugiums "remove" algae or just prevent it from coming back?
do copepods that I seed the Refugiums with also go into the tank?

Any other suggestions and comments are appreciated

 

[rongy]

Refugium is usually used as another way for nutrient export (control NO3 and PO4), but they can also be a good home for pods

 

[Fishn28]

Refugium is usually used as another way for nutrient export (control NO3 and PO4), but they can also be a good home for pods

can you explain nutrient export? I understand it a bit but not fully
Thanks

 

[rongy]

can you explain nutrient export? I understand it a bit but not fully
Thanks

To control Nitrate and Phosphate. If you have high nitrate and high phosphate, and you can’t get them down, refugium is one option

They can also be used to increase PH at night if you run your refugium light opposite of your aquarium light

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

can you explain nutrient export? I understand it a bit but not fully
Thanks

Nutrient export is just pruning the algae. by removing it you take out those nutrients and you free up room for more growth/ nutrient exports

 

[Fishn28]

Nutrient export is just pruning the algae. by removing it you take out those nutrients and you free up room for more growth/ nutrient exports

for more algae growth?

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

for more algae growth?

Yes. That’s the idea of the Refugio is give the algae a place to grow there instead of in your display

 

[FUNGI]

for more algae growth?

Everything is pretty much here: https://www.algaebarn.com/blog/refugiums/

 

[vlangel]

can you explain nutrient export? I understand it a bit but not fully
Thanks

Maybe I can jump in and share how nutrient export works in my tank. I have a 56 gallon display with a 30 gallon sump/refugium. Generally refugiums have some rock and macroalgae. Some have sand as well. Both my display and refugium have a lot of macroalgae. The macroalgae grows and they use the nutrients to do that, kind of like fertilizer. Then when you trim or prune the macroalgae and remove it from the tank, your are actually removing nutrients. I choose coral that like nutrient rich water, like soft coral and some LPS, plus a beautiful purple photosynthetic sponge. In the display the removing/pruning process is really important or the tank will be overrun by macros. If the macroalgae is confined to a refugium one can prune a little more casually and not worry so much about how the tank looks. This is the refugium and display.