I’ve only ever tried setting up a refugium with some chaetomorpha and a light, never anything like this before. But after talking with a friend of mine who has three decades of reefing experience, he convinced me to try something new.
I admit I’m a bit embarrassed I haven’t tried a full-blown refugium before, but I found it daunting. My attempts at macroalgae have always withered away in the past, and I knew this time around it would take a big commitment on my part.
Just scroll down or click on the items below to learn more about everything I used to make this project happen.
Miracle Mud
Miracle Mud is a product of EcoSystem Aquarium that has been carefully formulated to include all the essential trace elements, minerals, and components necessary to maintain a successful aquarium.
Miracle Mud will continually replenish your aquarium’s concentration of trace elements and minerals to create an ideal environment.
Miracle Mud also contains anaerobic microorganisms that denitrify the aquarium leading to a pristine home for your fishes and corals. Further proven benefits from the usage of Miracle Mud include:
- Reversal of head and lateral line erosion (HLLE) in fishes.
- Restoration and maintenance of fish and coral’s health and vibrant colors.
- Compatibility in various types of aquariums (fish-only tanks, coral-only tanks, or small polyp stony (SPS) reef tanks)
- Natural denitrifier.
- 10 pound bag
Rubble Rock
The sky’s the limit for uses of this clean, high quality aragonitic rubble. For saltwater, the Rubble Zone can be used for attaching coral frags, refugiums, biological media, reef tank substructure, cryptic zones, or even jawfish habitats. For freshwater, it can be used as a pond filter media, or an African cichlid nesting area.
Pieces range from approximately 1-4 inches.
Pod Hotel
The Pod Habitat by IceCap provides the ideal platform to cultivate a thriving collection of pods for your aquarium. Easy-to-use and with a small footprint, you can place the Pod Habitat in your sump, refugium, or in the back of an all-in-one aquarium and experience a pod population growth in no time! Once the Pod Habitat reaches capacity, simply dip it into your display tank and give it a shake to release a delicious and nutritious live food source for your aquarium occupants.
Features of the Pod Habitat
- Provides a safe haven for pods to reproduce
- Includes 7 floors for pods to live
- Easy-to-clean and easy-to-use
- Small footprint: 3″ x 3″ x 2″ (L x W x H)
Benefits of Copepods & Amphipods:
- Excellent live food source for mandarins and wrasses
- Help to keep your aquarium clean
- Increase the biodiversity of reef aquarium
- Fun to watch!
Pom Pom Algae
The Pom Pom Gracilaria hayi, also known as the Red Bush Macroalgae, is an exceptionally beautiful, flame shaped macroalgae. Between bright red and burgundy in hue, its fronds taper towards their ends giving its flame-like appearance, adding a splash of color and texture to any refugium or saltwater aquarium.
Perfect for surgeonfish and other herbivorous species, this macroalgae grows quickly in a refugium so you can harvest the growth for supplemental feeding.
Red Ogo Algae
The Red Ogo Gracilaria parvispora is an exceptionally beautiful macroalgae. Between bright red and burgundy in hue and graced with short bushy fronds, it adds a splash of color and texture to any refugium or saltwater aquarium.
Perfect for surgeonfish and other herbivorous species, this macroalgae grows quickly in a refugium so you can harvest the growth for supplemental feeding.
Features:
- Free of Parasites
All of our macroalgaes are kept in their own closed system. They are cleaned, treated, quarantined, and inspected before they are sent to you. This ensures that no unwanted pests & parasites make it into your tank. - Add Color & Texture
Red Ogo`s bright red & burgundy hue with long, branching, fronds that make for a beautiful addition to any display tank or refugium in need of a splash of color. - Removes Excess Nutrients
This species of macroalgae grows quickly and cleans your tank by consuming excess nitrates & phosphates for easy nutrient export. Balance your nutrient levels and watch your in-tank ecosystem thrive!
Green Sea Lettuce
Clean Sea Lettuce Ulva Lactuca macroalgae can be found in shallow, rocky reefs around the world. This delicate green algae does well in brightly lit waters with high nutrients making it a great, natural way to rapidly reduce concentrations of phosphates and nitrates in the saltwater aquarium.
Perfect for surgeonfish and other herbivorous species, this macroalgae is highly regarded as one of the most nutritious and is readily consumed by tank inhabitants.
Copepods
5280 Pods are great for seeding new tanks and refugiums, boosting existing populations, or feeding finicky fish & inverts such as Mandarins, Seahorses, Anthias, Wrasses, SPS, LPS & NPS Corals, Clams, and most other filter-feeding inverts.
5280 Pods blends three species of copepods, the Tigriopus Californicus, Tisbe Biminiensis, and Apocyclops Panamensis with each 16oz portion containing up to 5280+ LIVE pods from juvenile to adult sizes. This mix of pods are 100% viable to reproduce in marine aquaria. To ensure that your pods stay healthy OceanMagik LIVE Phytoplankton Blend is recommended to supplement their diet.
Tigriopus Californicus
AKA Tiger Pods, as the name suggests, are found along the California coastline, and in tidepools or intertidal habitats all along the North American Pacific Coast. Due to their natural habitats, Tiger Pods can thrive under various conditions of salinity and temperature.
The Tiger Pods large size, colors and quick movements make them a more attractive species for fish to prey on. They are packed with omega-3 fatty and amino acids making them a nutritious meal. One female can lay hundreds of eggs during their life cycle, where the young add to the “cleanup crew” to then eventually become part of the food chain.
Tisbe Biminiensis
Also known as Tisbe Pods for short, are found along the coast of Brazil in sandy beach, and shallow environments. They can tolerate a wide range of temperatures, oxygen and salinity. In the aquarium, they tend to stay in the cracks and crevasses of the aquascape and macroalgae, adding to the “cleanup crew“.
Tisbes reproduce quickly, where their young become a great food source for filter feeding inhabitants and fish larvae in the saltwater system. The adults also have a jerk-like swimming motion which triggers feeding response of many fish.
Apocyclops Panamensis
Otherwise known as Apocalypse Pods, are a hardy copepod found in marine and brackish environments. Adults tend to stay in the substrate of the aquarium, where as the young tend to be free-floating (planktonic).
As a live food, they are high in amino acid and protein content. They also have a high in astaxanthin, which has been known to brighten and enhance the colors of fish and coral. Their fast reproduction rate of 4-6 days, providing a sustainable, nutritious food source.
Phytoplankton
OceanMagik contains four species of live phytoplankton strains that are an excellent food source for copepods, corals, clams, and other filter feeders. Nano, Iso, Tet, and Thal phyto strains were hand selected for this blend as they are high in nutritious fatty acids, proteins, vitamins, amino acids, and carotenoids.
As the phyto is live, they do reproduce, and as such will seek out and consume nitrates and phosphates in the aquarium, taking away from the food source of nuisance algae. Phytoplankton also helps clear up the water, sustain copepod populations and vitalize coral. Continued use has shown to maintain pH, as well.
Phytoplankton Strain Overview:
- “Nano”, scientifically known as Nannochloropsis gaditana, are tiny, non-flagellated, yellow-green algae that consumes several nitrogen waste compounds which include: ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. This characteristic aids if you are prone to overfeeding, adding new livestock, or reducing the frequency of water changes.
- Size = 1 – 5 microns
- “Tet”, scientifically known as Tetraselmis sp, are a green biflagellate strain, rich in amino and fatty acids. They are a great source of nutrition for marine life, and are often used in large aquaculture facilities for this.
- Size = 6 – 10 microns
- “Iso”, scientifcally known as Isochrysis galbana, are brown, biflgellate algae high in DHA, the most essential omega-3 fatty acids. Iso is often used to feed zooplankton such as copepods and brine, so when dosed help boost their populations. For marine life, it will aid coloration, resilience in animals like: oysters, clams, mussels, and scallops.
- Size = 10 -14 microns
- “Thal”, scientifically known as Thalassiosira weissflogii, are an unflagellated diatom and is the largest of the four strains present in OceanMagik. As a beneficial diatom, Thal consumes silicates which in turn restricts the growth of harmful dinoflagellates and silicates. Thal also reduces cycle time for new aquariums.
- Size = 5 – 32 microns
