HOB Refugium for NANO Anyone using them?

[Dolf]

It has been awhile, but I used to keep a large refugium for my 75 gal. I used it as a DSB, a place to grow macros and for pods to reproduce. If you are using it to grow Chaeto or other macro algae for nutrient export then you can run a high trun over rate. I seem to recall that Anthony Calfo recommended no less than 10 or 20 times turnover an hour for the refugium and bright light. If you are wanting mostly pods then Dr. Ron had recommended a much lower flow- around 5 X or less.

I used to keep a fairly low turnover rate to grow pods- the macro was just a bonus and a place for the pods to grow. As I recall I only had two PC lights from the home depot screwed into a clip on socket for light. Having said all of this I doubt that you will get enough pods to keep a mandarin out of a fairly small refugium. As I recall, mandarins need LOTS of pods in order to be happy and not starve. One possibility that you may want to look into is keeping a separate place to raise pods. You would not have it plumbed directly into the main tank, but a mandarin is not the only thing that would be competing for the pods and culturing them would likely be your best bet. (IMHO)