Refugium Refugees & Other Residents

[wetpetz]

Hi there,
I'm a semi-experienced fishkeeper, having recently moved over to the salty side of the hobby after eight wonderful years of high-tech fw planted tank keeping. I am in the middle of a 75G tank/ 55G fuge&sump combo build. Personally, I'm super into the Show Fuge trend and I would love to pimp out my utility tank, but I also think this might be aiming too high for my first dip in the reef. Wondering if anyone on here has a fancy fuge and could impart some wisdom on me, and also wondering if anyone with a regular fuge has any stocking advice.
In addition to the beautiful show fuges I've seen on the online, I've nearly been overwhelmed by the number of different macroalgae(?) made by nature, and the gargantuan scientific names they've been assigned. Whew! Any & all 'fuge facts are welcomed, considered, and greatly appreciated.
Thank you all in advance!
- Morgan

 

[Marco S]

Very interested in this topic so I am following...

Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[lion king]

Check out Gulf Coast Ecosystems, perhaps the best place to order and get some info. They are low on stock right now but Im sure as the season changes they will be replenizhing. Their stuff is wild collected and they run fishless systems, so a good cleaning is in order. Be careful of your sources, if they run their macro with fish, it can harbor fish diseases.

It would be great to have a bioload in your fish display to support the needs of your macro, do research carefully if you need to supplement feeding requirements. Research lighting carefully as well. Using a sump/refugium combo can be tricky, be mindful of your flow rate.

Coming from a planted tank, youll likely have a wonderful tank, lets see some pics when you get up and running.