HOB Refugium worth it?

[digleftnose]

Hello gurus, 

 

I was thinking of placing a HOB filter and turn it into a chaeto refug. Would it be beneficial? Mine is a 2 x 1 ft ios. Below is a pic. I just have basic filtration and a qq1 skimmer. 

 

[tuajia]

Depends what's your objective of having a refugium. If you research online, there's a lot of debate whether a small refugium is even worth it vs a big one. I recommend watching the below youtube video for more info on refugiums.

According to my own experience, i tried using a small HOB breeding box as a refugium for nutrient export on my nano tank (1.5 x 1.2 x 1ft) and growing a small bunch of chaeto inside. Perhaps due to my lighting (just a small LED light), the chaeto grew very slowly and hence didn't create much impact on nutrient export. However, it was a great place for me to grow pods and other micro life. I also used it to acclimatise new livestock  or use as temporary storage for corals so i could feed them easier. So to me it did have its uses, just not that great for nutrient export. 

 

 

[digleftnose]

I just managed to do this diy out of impulse. Let's see how it goes. 

[Ref00]

Nice diy

[digleftnose]

Hi im new to this chaeto thing. How do you identify if it's doing good based on this pic? 

It's bubbly and brownish by the day.