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You are here: Home / Refugium Education / Going Green: Installing and Operating a Planted Refugium
Refugium Example

Going Green: Installing and Operating a Planted Refugium

by Kenneth Wingerter

Refugium Diagram      Many aquarists strive to build and maintain aquarium systems that replicate, as faithfully as possible, the natural environments from which their collection of animals originates. This is certainly not without some considerable reward, as doing so not only results in a more interesting captive ecosystem, but also promotes these creatures’ health, fecundity and natural behavior. One of the best ways of doing this in a marine reef aquarium is through the use of a refugium sump.

One of the most challenging aspects of keeping marine aquaria is maintaining a hospitable living environment for all of the livestock—particularly with respect to water chemistry. And, of course, keeping a consistently high water quality should be a primary concern. While this absolutely can be accomplished with a heavy reliance on complicated and expensive filtration devices and specialized chemical filter media (often in addition to regular, massive water changes), a more naturalistic approach utilizes (surprise!) decidedly more natural means. Chief among them are planted refugia.

Everyone loves fish, and we especially love to feed them. Even when, in the mid-1980’s as reef aquarium systems (which are nominally dominated by reef-building corals) were starting to become commonplace, hobbyists’ tanks were loaded with fish. The problems associated with this arrangement in closed aquarium systems quickly became apparent; the combination of high fish waste output and the necessarily intense reef tank lighting all too frequently resulted in massive nuisance algal blooms. In the best cases these algae compromised the appearance of the aquarium display, and in the worst smothered corals and other sessile invertebrates to their death.

[Refugium]

Excess nitrate and phosphate were quickly identified as the culprits. In the following years and decades, many products (including both devices and chemical filtrants) were continuously developed to combat these threats. But, as anyone who worked in the industry throughout this period could tell you, these cure-alls were anything but. Surely, improvements upon these technologies have been made. But a much more naturalistic method of nutrient management that employs a sump refugium has produced favorable results for countless aquarists at both the hobbyist and professional levels.

mangroves in Refugium
Mangroves in Refugium

In short, a refugium is a separate sump (or in some cases a section within a sump). These microhabitats serve as a sort of refuge, if you will, for certain beneficial small animals that would otherwise be quickly decimated by hungry fish within the main tank. Most often, the organisms targeted to reside in refugia are microcrustaceans such as amphipods and copepods. In theory, these tiny creatures are afforded a safe haven in which they can develop and maintain large, stable and productive populations. Oftentimes, refugia are designed in a way that actually captures unwanted particulate organic matter (POM) where it can be efficiently captured and consumed by the resident “pods.”

An early take on this method (and indeed one still in popular use today) includes the use of macroalgae. These algae provide additional valuable food and habitable surface space for the pods, greatly increasing their potential population size, as well as sequestering nutrients from the aquarium water. When densely planted, the algae additionally help to trap much of the POM as it passes through the unit. These types of refugia were an advancement upon a device developed by Dr. Walter Adey of the Marine Systems Laboratory at the Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC) known as algal turf scrubbers. Where many aquarists found scrubbers (which use big screens and dump buckets to cultivate algae) to be overly cumbersome, messy and noisy, they hailed refugia as more practical—and far more capable of supporting pods. This is significant, since the pods are an integral part of the recycling process. Most important in this aspect is that the pods help to reduce the amount of POM and dead plant matter that is otherwise broken down by microbes; in so doing, they divert much of the flow of nutrients directly back to zooplanktivorous fishes and invertebrates in the form of an extremely nutritious food source.

Now, it should be considered that this can only be regarded as a supplementary food source, as there is a ten-fold loss of energy between each trophic level. In other words, due to the inefficiency of food energy conversion, only one gram of pods is produced from each 10 grams of waste that they consume (the rest is ultimately lost as heat energy). Of course, this is fantastic in terms of nutrient export. Just remember that tanks (with or without refugia) that are heavily stocked with zooplanktivorous animals will very likely still require regular additions of quality live feed such as 5280 Pods or our Ecopods Copepod Blend

Sump Example
Refugium Setup Example

Despite the complex biological workings of planted refugia, they are remarkably simple in design and function. Generally, they are constructed from a basic glass or acrylic tank. However, practically any nontoxic vessel such as a tub, bin or even bucket may be used. While a refugium may be situated above the main tank, they are typically placed below, frequently plumbed into the sump. Often, the desired water flow through the refugium will be considerably less than that in the sump; therefore, refugia that are separate from, rather than a part of, the sump are preferable, as water flow can be more easily manipulated. For this reason, a dedicated water pump is highly preferable.

Refugia that are used to cultivate macroalgae need a sufficiently intense light source. Refugium lighting may be run on a different photoperiod than that of the main tank. In fact, some aquarists run the two lighting fixtures on alternating schedules (i.e. one is on while the other is off). This serves to balance heat input from the fixtures as well as stabilize pH throughout the day (photosynthesizing plants consume CO2, which increases the water pH). A substantial amount of nutrients are exported as the plant biomass is regularly harvested and discarded. The macroalgae will sequester nutrients at a maximal rate if just enough is algae harvested to keep biomass high while just enough open space is set aside for continuous and vigorous growth. Purple non-sulfur bacteria (e.g. PNS Probio™) enhance this process by additionally removing nitrate while eating organic wastes secreted by the algae.

Mangroves in refugium
Mangroves in a refugium

It should be noted that odd-ball refugia have now been utilized to culture everything from sponges to Aiptasia anemones. Some of these systems do not include macroalgae. But the important role of pods in nutrient recycling takes place in all of them. It is hard to argue, though, that the intriguing ecological interaction between plant (i.e. macroalgae) and animal (i.e. pods) that plays out in planted refugia is an effective means of natural water quality management. This has been proven time and again for decades. And while the basic methodology continues to be used, each generation of aquarists has been finding new ways to tweak the old idea (the ongoing experimentation with new types of refugium plants such as Chaetomorpha attests to this). Regardless of any improvements or novel uses that are yet to come for these useful components, this much is certainly clear: refugia are good for pods, are pods are good for the entire aquarium system.

Images sourced from: https://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1540422&page=18

 

[Refugium]

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. paula says

    August 7, 2019 at 3:54 pm

    great tips! i’m actually in the process of installing a display planted aquarium now!

    Reply
    • Noah says

      August 7, 2019 at 6:39 pm

      ?

      Reply
      • Jon Dimitri Andrianos says

        August 12, 2019 at 4:08 pm

        ?

        Reply
        • Ben Martin says

          August 23, 2019 at 8:46 pm

          Yeet

          Reply
    • Stefan Bladen says

      August 28, 2019 at 5:31 am

      Looking at turning my 55g fowl into a macro algae tank to feed to my reef

      Reply
  2. Anthony says

    August 7, 2019 at 3:58 pm

    What would be more efficient? A planted fuge or an algae turf scrubber?

    Reply
    • frank martinez sr says

      August 25, 2019 at 3:19 pm

      I love my refugium because I find it more interesting specially the diversity on different type of copepods and all different type of macro algae give the tank a more attractive interest in this beautiful reef hoppy

      Reply
  3. jeffreyfelter says

    August 7, 2019 at 4:00 pm

    Great read, I really need to give my fuge a boost.

    Reply
  4. robert vice says

    August 7, 2019 at 4:02 pm

    that’s the best thin I ever did combined with switching to sea lettuce .thanks greg

    Reply
  5. Tony Mutti says

    August 7, 2019 at 4:05 pm

    I love refugiums. Specifically the fact that they give a place for pods to grow.

    Reply
  6. esear14 says

    August 7, 2019 at 4:06 pm

    very informative

    Reply
  7. Josh Hiltabiddle says

    August 7, 2019 at 4:14 pm

    Fuge keeps my ph stable

    Reply
  8. devon says

    August 7, 2019 at 4:19 pm

    interesting topic

    Reply
  9. Terrence Harrison says

    August 7, 2019 at 4:21 pm

    Great tips! Getting items to start first REFUGIUM!

    Reply
  10. Tim Jones says

    August 7, 2019 at 4:36 pm

    The planted refugiam would be cool I currently run chaeto that I purchased from algae barn

    Reply
    • Richard Rocha says

      August 10, 2019 at 7:28 pm

      Same, looking to expand into more macros

      Reply
  11. Martin Gundel says

    August 7, 2019 at 4:50 pm

    Having extra water volume for live stock as well as a place to house macro for nutrient export and other filtration hardware away from the display makes it that much more viewable and enjoyable.

    Reply
  12. artaa1988 says

    August 7, 2019 at 5:01 pm

    love it

    Reply
  13. James says

    August 7, 2019 at 5:23 pm

    I have wanted to do this but limited funds have prevented that.

    Reply
  14. Allen Fagard says

    August 7, 2019 at 5:41 pm

    Have to have a refugium

    Reply
  15. Carl Brown says

    August 7, 2019 at 5:41 pm

    Love refugiums

    Reply
  16. mikerosa1965 says

    August 7, 2019 at 5:48 pm

    great info and I like to take care of things naturally.

    Reply
  17. Brooner says

    August 7, 2019 at 5:49 pm

    I love my show refugium! I seeded my tank with copeods and brine shrimp from Algae Barn about 2 months ago and I have a flourishing refugium now with several types of macoalgae. I’d you don’t have one, try it!

    Reply
  18. Tara says

    August 7, 2019 at 6:12 pm

    Love it. Good tips

    Reply
  19. Andy says

    August 7, 2019 at 6:14 pm

    Planning on adding a refugium in the future at some point.

    Reply
  20. Jeremy Irwin says

    August 7, 2019 at 6:15 pm

    I struggle with my cheato. Can’t seem to keep it alive….crazy right

    Reply
  21. Tiffanie says

    August 7, 2019 at 6:15 pm

    Great info. Something I will refer back to!

    Reply
  22. Nicholas Pettit says

    August 7, 2019 at 6:39 pm

    Interesting

    Reply
  23. Alex Cheshmedjiev says

    August 7, 2019 at 6:48 pm

    Hope i can get a stable population of pods now!

    Reply
  24. Alex Cheshmedjiev says

    August 7, 2019 at 6:49 pm

    Hope my pods will love it

    Reply
  25. Alex says

    August 7, 2019 at 6:53 pm

    Great info!

    Reply
  26. Brandi says

    August 7, 2019 at 7:02 pm

    I had no idea people put sand in refugia, much less that they use deep sand beds. Great read. What there be any harm in having 2 refugia? My sump has a built in one, but I love the idea of a dsiplay fuge with unique macroalgaes. Would this result in too much nutrient transport to have two plumbed to a tank?

    Reply
  27. Christopher Burns says

    August 7, 2019 at 7:12 pm

    great tips!

    Reply
  28. Marc Raupp says

    August 7, 2019 at 7:28 pm

    refugiums are a tanks best friend and this is a great article.

    Reply
  29. Hailey Weir says

    August 7, 2019 at 7:32 pm

    [email protected]

    Reply
  30. Sean Simkins says

    August 7, 2019 at 7:37 pm

    Seriously good read

    Reply
  31. professorcanswanky says

    August 7, 2019 at 7:43 pm

    Huge help

    Reply
  32. ANDREW WELSH says

    August 7, 2019 at 7:53 pm

    Good overview. Run a petty good size fuge on my monster tank!

    Reply
  33. Erich Kuhlmann says

    August 7, 2019 at 7:55 pm

    I would love to add mangroves to my Fuge

    Reply
  34. Ross Bennett says

    August 7, 2019 at 8:13 pm

    Good read

    Reply
  35. David says

    August 7, 2019 at 8:24 pm

    I didn’t know that people actually grew mangroves in fuges. Just thought it was chaeto.

    Reply
  36. Doug Smith says

    August 7, 2019 at 8:45 pm

    Well done!

    Reply
  37. darksorcerer0530 says

    August 7, 2019 at 8:54 pm

    The mangrove refugium looks amazing! I wish I had the time and resources to allocate towards such an awesome project.

    Reply
  38. Angela Revell says

    August 7, 2019 at 10:02 pm

    I love my refugium

    Reply
  39. Juan Gonzalez says

    August 8, 2019 at 12:09 am

    Running one now with great results!

    Reply
  40. Anchor Sarslow says

    August 8, 2019 at 1:59 am

    I am headed in this direction.. just need lighting..

    Reply
  41. Anthony Ferrelli says

    August 8, 2019 at 3:16 am

    Pods pods and more pods

    Reply
  42. George says

    August 8, 2019 at 5:17 am

    Pretty interesting

    Reply
  43. Michael Kessler says

    August 8, 2019 at 7:57 am

    Planning on a fuge for my next build

    Reply
  44. Andrew Bilodeau says

    August 8, 2019 at 8:03 am

    Love it!

    Reply
  45. Timothy B says

    August 8, 2019 at 8:04 am

    Lots of good info, working on setting mine up

    Reply
  46. Christopher says

    August 8, 2019 at 8:05 am

    Algaebarn means knowledge

    Reply
  47. Hugh says

    August 8, 2019 at 8:50 am

    I’d love to set up one of these bad boys!

    Reply
  48. Hugh says

    August 8, 2019 at 8:50 am

    I’d love to set up one of these bad boys! I have a crappy makeshift one

    Reply
  49. Savoury Kem says

    August 8, 2019 at 10:04 am

    Whoa

    Reply
  50. Deborah Najm says

    August 8, 2019 at 10:33 am

    Great info!

    Reply
  51. Ricardo Munoz says

    August 8, 2019 at 12:58 pm

    Will try very soon

    Reply
  52. zadok jollie says

    August 8, 2019 at 5:34 pm

    Great source on information. Thanks!

    Reply
  53. erik says

    August 8, 2019 at 8:59 pm

    great info! Have been meaning to buy a few mangroves!

    Reply
  54. Gino says

    August 9, 2019 at 3:26 am

    Very resourceful! Thank you!

    Reply
  55. James says

    August 9, 2019 at 5:18 am

    Interesting

    Reply
  56. garethb9 says

    August 9, 2019 at 10:55 am

    Definitely something I want to have in my set up. Especially to help remove nutrients and culture pods

    Reply
  57. Brent Cox says

    August 9, 2019 at 11:50 am

    Starting to put my refugium together lots of good info here. Thanks

    Reply
  58. Robert Paniagua says

    August 9, 2019 at 12:58 pm

    Most complete system

    Reply
  59. Max Williquette says

    August 9, 2019 at 2:08 pm

    Great knowledge, this hobby is all about learning as much as you can!

    Reply
  60. Brent says

    August 9, 2019 at 2:27 pm

    I’ve been experimenting with different macro algeas, I think I’ll try lettuce next!

    Reply
  61. Luis Ruiz says

    August 9, 2019 at 9:08 pm

    Cool

    Reply
  62. Luis Ruiz says

    August 9, 2019 at 9:09 pm

    Some of these refugium sumplooks very expensive

    Reply
  63. Luis Ruiz says

    August 9, 2019 at 9:10 pm

    I’m going to build one

    Reply
  64. Tom Giddens says

    August 10, 2019 at 6:12 am

    good info

    Reply
  65. Tom Giddens says

    August 10, 2019 at 6:12 am

    sweet

    Reply
  66. Tom Giddens says

    August 10, 2019 at 6:13 am

    good info man

    Reply
  67. John key says

    August 11, 2019 at 5:32 pm

    Great timing for me. I am planing a refugium right now and this info is exactly what I need!

    Reply
  68. Kristoffer Hamann says

    August 12, 2019 at 3:16 pm

    Definitely keeps my ph more stable.

    Reply
  69. Kristoffer Hamann says

    August 12, 2019 at 3:17 pm

    Definitely keeps my ph better.

    Reply
  70. Kristoffer Hamann says

    August 12, 2019 at 3:18 pm

    Definitely helps ph

    Reply
  71. danieoue says

    August 12, 2019 at 4:45 pm

    Very good info

    Reply
  72. Wade says

    August 12, 2019 at 7:33 pm

    Great read. Love Turing my ato into a temporary fuge. Have seen a big difference.

    Reply
  73. Itzel says

    August 12, 2019 at 10:25 pm

    Super duper interesting

    Reply
  74. Ellen S Imbrie says

    August 13, 2019 at 4:38 am

    I’d love to set up one of theses I have a crappy makeshift one

    Reply
  75. Ellen S Imbrie says

    August 13, 2019 at 4:45 am

    Love this

    Reply
  76. Kristopher Kasarda says

    August 13, 2019 at 5:32 am

    So glad I have a refugium!

    Reply
  77. Derek says

    August 13, 2019 at 6:18 am

    Good information. I still struggle with my chaeto sometimes, and have a hard time determining if it’s growing or not

    Reply
  78. chrissyhexd says

    August 13, 2019 at 6:28 am

    Fuges are beautiful!

    Reply
  79. Justin says

    August 13, 2019 at 7:39 am

    Good info

    Reply
  80. Luke says

    August 13, 2019 at 8:07 am

    im doing this with my refugium

    Reply
  81. Jeremy Hunsberger says

    August 13, 2019 at 10:52 am

    Sweet

    Reply
  82. Bennett Sheppard says

    August 13, 2019 at 10:58 am

    I will be taking another look on how I have my refugium setup and see if I’m doing it correctly or can make improvements.

    Reply
  83. William Schimmel says

    August 14, 2019 at 11:24 pm

    Very interesting

    Reply
  84. btack206 says

    August 18, 2019 at 3:09 pm

    We have been having some issues controlling nitrates in our saltwater tank and so we have been looking into installing a sump with a refugium in it. This has some great info in it to be able to help set up what we need.

    Reply
  85. Paul R Cote says

    August 19, 2019 at 3:17 pm

    Pods love it

    Reply
  86. Ryan M. Vaughan says

    August 19, 2019 at 4:28 pm

    Great also for growing a copepod population

    Reply
  87. Jordan Sangiovanni says

    August 19, 2019 at 5:13 pm

    So informative

    Reply
  88. Branden Hess says

    August 19, 2019 at 9:18 pm

    A must have for a stable tank.

    Reply
  89. Max says

    August 19, 2019 at 9:32 pm

    Great! Thanks!

    Reply
  90. stoph70 says

    August 20, 2019 at 8:10 am

    Do you think the whole mangroves in the refugium idea is more for novelty or is there actual indication that it’s useful?

    Reply
  91. ian m mahoney says

    August 20, 2019 at 11:05 am

    When I planned my system there was always going to be a very large refug connected to it, it is 235 total gallons with 100 gallons being the refug. After 2.5 years of the system running I had to turn off the skimmer a year a go just to keep my nitrates above zero.

    Reply
  92. Ethan says

    August 23, 2019 at 7:48 pm

    What is the most effective macroalgae for nutrient update?

    Reply
  93. glenzemke says

    August 23, 2019 at 8:47 pm

    I’ve really wanted some mangroves but I haven’t had a good light for any of this yet

    Reply
  94. Ryan Thompson says

    August 24, 2019 at 6:16 am

    Setting one up on my new tank

    Reply
  95. Frank says

    August 24, 2019 at 6:54 am

    Good article

    Reply
  96. Logan says

    August 24, 2019 at 7:46 am

    Awesome

    Reply
  97. Kyle says

    August 24, 2019 at 7:56 am

    Really good read! Great tips!

    Reply
  98. Nicholas says

    August 24, 2019 at 10:03 am

    I can’t wait to set up my new fuge!

    Reply
  99. Jose Pacheco says

    August 26, 2019 at 12:03 pm

    Nice info

    Reply
  100. Dylan says

    August 26, 2019 at 8:41 pm

    Good to know!

    Reply
  101. Ricardo Munoz says

    August 27, 2019 at 2:08 pm

    Gonna move up from fusion 10. Next step five plus 40g, good info for future plans!

    Reply
  102. Lisa says

    August 29, 2019 at 3:20 pm

    Great article. Looking forward to setting up my first refugium with all this info!

    Reply
  103. Cezary Wysocki says

    August 30, 2019 at 9:28 am

    Nice

    Reply
  104. castrommaritza says

    August 30, 2019 at 10:34 pm

    As always so informative and helpful. How I got mine started

    Reply
  105. Eric Homan says

    August 31, 2019 at 9:43 am

    Need a few of those mangroves.

    Reply

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