Refugium or powerfilter for FOWLR tank.

[manowar669]

I have one of these wet/dry HOB filters on my 46g FOWLR, and I was wondering if/should I convert it to a refugium? My hood has no available extra space for HOB stuff unless I can do it with minimal tubing, and I don't like too much non-natural looking stuff inside the aquarium. So, basically I'm asking if a filter is more beneficial than a refugium.

46g FOWLR (pentagonal corner tank), about 50lbs LR, 40ish lbs Livesand, 7 fish, handful of various snails and small hermits, emerald crab, arrow crab, peppermint shrimp, porcelain crab. about 1200gph total circulation from powerheads with sponge prefilters, and 350gph through a crosscurrent HOB skimmer.

 

[Reefscape]

my answer would be yes, a refugium would be a good idea. you dont need the actual filtration from the hob filter as you have an adequate ammount of live rock in the tank.

Niko

 

[manowar669]

Thanks. Do you think I should convert that HOB filter? Is it large enough? It probably holds about 1.5 liters if I take out the surface area grids and filter cartridges, and it moves about 300 gph (guess thats about 1200 liters per hour). Is that flow too fast? I know I'd need a light for macroalgae, but that's no problem.

metric volumes added for you guys "across the pond"