What Is a Refugium and How Does It Work?

What can lower your blood pressure and cholesterol levels?

Pets!

There are so many incredible health benefits that pets offer. However, when you have a busy schedule or kids, it can be hard to find time for high maintenance pets. Luckily, fish are the perfect low maintenance pet, and they’re lovely to watch!

If you’re new to the aquarium game, welcome. In this article, we’ll help you learn how to keep your fish happier than ever with the help of a refugium.

What is a refugium? Read on to find out!

What Is a Refugium?

To help answer the question, “what is a refugium?”, it’s helpful to think of refugium as types of refuge for delicate fish species or coral. The refugium will share the water of the main tank, while at the same time being separated. In addition to protecting delicate fish species, your refugium can also be used to grow food for your fish.

For example, you can grow Mysis shrimp, copepods, isopods, and amphipods to feed to delicate species, such as seahorses. Instead of having to use a separate tank, using a refugium helps improve the water volume, making your aquarium more stable.

For instance, a 40-gallon tank with a 10-gallon refugium is a 50-gallon system. Having the extra volume makes your tankless susceptible to disturbances, such as changes in water temperature.

Refugium Setup Tips

Moving on, let’s look at the best tips for a successful refugium setup. First, you’ll need to decide what location you want your refugium to be in. We find that one of the best spots is a refugium sump. Next, create a budget for how much you’re willing to spend on the refugium, as well as what you’ll be putting in it.

After adding in your media and substrate you can put in red macroalgae. If you’re using your refugium for copepods, remember they’ll need food too! Go ahead and buy some phytoplankton to keep the copepods well fed.

Freshwater Refugium Advice

If you’re setting up a freshwater refugium for the first time, it’s helpful to know the key differences between freshwater and saltwater tanks. For starters, freshwater tanks are much easier to maintain and present fewer problems than saltwater aquariums. You’ll also find that freshwater tanks are less expensive.

Next, you can use acrylic or glass for your freshwater tank, and it can be any size you want. A few fish you might consider adding include betta fish, cichlids, and teras fish. As a beginner, you might want to hold off on introducing live plants into the environment, since live plants make tank maintenance more complex.

Keep Your Fish Happy

The next time you hear someone wondering, “what is a refugium?”, you’ll already know the answer! By giving your delicate fish species, and coral a special refuge, you’ll be able to have the best aquarium environment.

Remember to budget accordingly, since once you start buying things for your tank it’s easy to go overboard. For more ways to enjoy the things you love, check out the rest of this site.