refuge/sump ? for my 29g tank

[di0nysus]

alright so this is my first salt water/reef tank ive set up its been running for about 2 weeks im not done with the set up what i do have for now is a remora protien skimmer, penguin filter with bio wheel, an unknown heater that i got with the 29g starter kit, about 16 pounds of liverock that im still adding too and im using arogonite sand.

my first question is what exactly is a refuge/sump good for and how would it help my tank out in the long run? would it help maintain a better water quality?

my second question is... the fish i want in my tank in the future are 2 clown fish a mandarin goby and maybe one other of some sort. would this be a good mix? i heared pple say that they breed? pods in the refuge for thier goby any help/advice?*thumbsups *twirlysmi *GOLDFISH*

 

[TRe]

a sump/fuge for starters is a place to add more total water volume to your tank...its also is a good place to grow macro algae wich helps keep the water quality up, its a good place to hide the protien skimmer,heater ect... and finally its a great place for pods to grow and reproduce and since you want a mandrin its prolly a good idea... btw you need lots of rock work for mandrins aswell as a established tank

 

[di0nysus]

alright that breaks it down pretty easy, thanx.

so now would i need to put a light in the refuge? and how big of a refuge would i need? im planning on putting in about 30 pounds of live rock in my tank maybe more if i could fit it and a few more in my refuge so overall you think a manderin could live off of 50 pounds of live rock? one last question i dont mean to bug all you guys, but how fast do these pods reproduce?

 

[TRe]

to grow macro algae yes you will need a light... a 29g is pretty small for a mandrin but like i said with enough live rock, a fuge, and a minimun of 6 months before your ready it may be doable

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

if you did the 29 gallon with a bigger sump, i agree that its doable. it would also help if you had the main tank packed with rock asewll as had some in the sump. you can also get some mandarins to eat frozen food.

 

[di0nysus]

about that frozen food do any of you turn off your HOB protien skimmer when you feed? when i was feeding my damsels i was afraid to feed them the frozen food thinking it was going to get sucked straight into my remora.

here i go using abreviation for things when i just made a comment on someone else's blog about it what a hypocrit i am

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

i havent ever turned off mine when feeding frozen or flake, BUT i hand fed my clown flakes so there was almost no risk of lost food, and i use a syrringe (sp?) for feeding frozen.