Refugium for a 130 gallon tank

Was just watching the show called "TANKED" on Animal Planet & got me wondering about a refugium set up.
What all info can you guys give me about this system?

Fuges are generally used in salt water tanks to keep equipment and to be used as living filters.

It can be done in a freshwater system, but less necessary as freshwater systems can be more "dirty".

I have wondered about creating a refugium as well for freshwater.

I understand for saltwater, as a living biologic filter. For freshwater, I was considering more for the purpose of keeping fry and smaller fish.

For a 130g tank, I can see a refugium as a living sump, and a post mechanical living filter. I as well, would be interested in hearing more about those who keep refugiums.

There has been experiments with deep sand beds for freshwater as well as planted refugiums, but I would say the best "fuge" of sorts would be a hydroponics system.

Otherwise I would go with a sump with deep sand / mud bed, lots of floating / emergent plants, various snails / shrimp / miniature crustaceans such as scuds. Low flow rate would probably benefit the system.

You would be best off using an overflow system as that would always be the easiest way to keep a sump.

I have only seen sump systems being used for larger tanks but no refugiums.

In Mexico many lfs use sumps as their filtering system. It is basically a large canister filter with media and a heavy duty pump. I have seen (German) hobbyists using the same system for their fish room with the disadvantage that all the tanks are connected so in case of a disease, it will spread easily.

In China all the larger tanks come with a sump. It basically allows for more filter volume than if you would be using a canister. Here is a picture of the inside of a large tank stand in a Chinese shop:

DSC00653 by Biulu, on Flickr

For a refugium to function well though you will need light for organisms to grow which will take a lot of the esthetics away that has the sump which you can put out of sight.

I have seen systems for cleaning household water which is an overflow system with nitrate uptakers such as reeds, lobelia and mints. Pistia is also being mentioned.

Have a look at this page:

http://www.greywater.com/treatment.htm

In salt water systems people usually include a sump, it doesn't always include a refugium but it can.

There are several benefits to the sump in a SW system.

1. It increases the water volume of the system and hence makes it more stable. As the saying goes "only bad things happen quickly in a SW tank". so the more water volume you have the better off you are. I have a 215G reef tank under construction that will have a 55G sump/refugium.

2. It keeps your display tank uncluttered. Your heaters, pumps, filters, etc are all located in your sump.

3. it's a great place for Copepods to hang out and multiple. They are a great source of natural food for many SW fish.

4. It's a great place for a refugium if you decide to include one. The main reason to include one is for a Nitrate sponge. You grow macro-algae(usually Chaetomorpha aka Chaeto) in there to absorb the nitrates. You just need to throw it out as it grows.

For a fresh water tank it presents an interesting idea. It would also increase the water volume of you system. Depending on what you grow in it, it could also be a Nitrate sponge, hide filters, etc. Could certainly be helpful if you keep fish that are not to friendly to plants.

I guess it would really be a form of aquaponics, using the fish waste to grow plants. This is an idea I have toyed with for some time now and hope to get going on a experimental basis this winter.

Steve