Dark Refuge?

[20gFOWLR]

I recently made an AC500 a refuge for my 20 gallon FOWLR. I siliconed a baffle in place, added a deep sand bed and a 1 pound hunk of live rock. unfortunately its in a really tight space and almost impossible to get a light in there. and ive ran into a few complications, and I was wondering, is it possible to run a dark refugium with no light? I understand I cannot grow any macro algae.....but besides flow, what are the advantages of it? Will the high flow going through the DSB and live rock do anything? maybe make some pods that are good for my tank/feed the 2 false percula clowns? just making sure this project wasnt a waste of money if i go lightless.....

thanks!

[tinyreef]

i'm running one now but more as a cryptic refugium as described by tyree. once setup correctly (mine's only 6 weeks old) it supposed to be able to filter the water as efficiently, depending on size and population density, as a skimmer (we'll see). it's supposed to be able to handle coral slime in particular, hence my interest.

 

the mechanisms such a fuge employs to accomplish its filtration are tunicates and sponges. these won't significantly add any plankton to your system, quite the contrary actually. but their filtration properties are supposed to be considerable.

 

i'm still tinkering with it but unless you're going for such a setup i would look for some lighting for the algae (micro/macro). the flow should be slow enough to allow the sand and rock to act upon it or utilize it. the flow rate is currently the aspect i'm tinkering with the most. too fast or too slow and the cryptic fuge doesn't work quite right.

 

altho i have also seen a larger than expected (by me) 'pods and worms population explosion. still, the algae scrubbing of a fuge is one of the main benefits of the format. as well as powering the phytoplankton that feeds the base of the food pyramid. imo you should try to go after a small light (e.g. galaxy light) for your fuge if you want typical filtration and plankton generation. hth

[Reefer_Buddha]

thats cool tiny, i never thought of the whole sponge aspect of a dark refuge. Altho ive heard pods love it. My fuge is so dense near the top its very dark near the sand bed, kinda the best of both worlds. Maybe ill construct a fuge that can do both.