IMO there are two purposes of the fuge, (1) a benefit to the system as a "refugium," and (2) a benefit to the reefer because he/she is interested in what goes on in the refugium.
If a person doesn't have the number #2 interest benefit, I don't think the #1 practical benefit is enough to sustain having a fuge - because it's one way or one component that can be used, but it's not essential to run everything. Many folks have great systems without fuges.
For me, I'm a "naturalist" when it comes to this stuff and I want everything to be as close to the real habitat as possible, so live sand is everywhere, no etched rock, let the corals grow large and fight it out, all that. And part of it is have a great fuge with loads of interesting fauna, eg, so many different types of tube worms and pods. Our sandbeds have I'd guess 50 mini tube worms per square inch, that poke out at night, maybe a few every mm going in both directions - the 55g fuge has thousand of tube worms in the sand bed - I love that stuff.
If a person doesn't have the number #2 interest benefit, I don't think the #1 practical benefit is enough to sustain having a fuge - because it's one way or one component that can be used, but it's not essential to run everything. Many folks have great systems without fuges.
For me, I'm a "naturalist" when it comes to this stuff and I want everything to be as close to the real habitat as possible, so live sand is everywhere, no etched rock, let the corals grow large and fight it out, all that. And part of it is have a great fuge with loads of interesting fauna, eg, so many different types of tube worms and pods. Our sandbeds have I'd guess 50 mini tube worms per square inch, that poke out at night, maybe a few every mm going in both directions - the 55g fuge has thousand of tube worms in the sand bed - I love that stuff.
