Refugiums: Yay or Nay?

[Craigdillman]

As long as you have the right "goals/expectations" for your fuge they are awesome

I you want it for nutrient export having a 10"x10" section in your sump covered will not do it for you
that goes for same if all you want to is have a safe haven for pod growth to feed a mandarin or other finicky fish you won't need a 50g section to achieve that

i have a small 10x8x14 section with some of that miracle mud topped with some sand few pieces of small rubble and cheat growing that i cut every month or so back down to a baseball size, lit by a par38 bulb opposite of the tank

Works wonders for me its also kinda cool to watch the crazy life in there mandarin and the leopard wrasse are happy all day and i never have to worry about stable pod population