Setting up a new refugium typically meant scooping up some free algae from a “friend” and hoping it was clean, full off all the good things and free of all the bad things — and we all have heard about when this doesn’t work out. But Algae Barn’s Ultimate Refugium Starter Pack is a simple way to start your ‘fuge up right while keeping your friends well, your friends.
The Algae Barn Ultimate Refugium Starter Pack features MarinePure BioFiltration ceramic media cubes and Fritz Aquatics Turbo Start 900 Live Nitrifying Bacteria for Saltwater. This gives you the surface area and bacteria to get off on the right foot.
Once the bacteria is established, then you can add the Algae Barn 5280 Pods (a three-species live copepod blend). This includes over 5,200 tigriopus, tisbe and apocyclops copepods “of all sizes and life stages for maximum zooplankton diversity designed to seed and establish your tank with a healthy and diverse copepod population.”
Next up is the Algae Barn OceanMagik Live Phytoplankton to keep them fed and Algae Barn Live Clean macroalgae of your choice for nutrient export. You can chose from Clean Chaetomorpha, Pom Pom Gracilaria, Red Ogo or Sea Lettuce. Algae Barn notes their macro algae is treated, quarantined and inspect ensure your refugium gets off to healthy parasite and pest-free start.
There are four sizes — small, medium, large and extra-large — to tackle your refugium needs from nano tanks all the way up to 20-gallon refugiums. Prices range from $100 to $450.
