What route to go with my refugium?

[dtd87]

Wondering what to do with it.. Right now all that is in it is a bunch of rubble rock. I was considering.. as I've read it is still safe to add a sand bed for it. Other than that what kind of algae should I add to it?

It is currently a 20 gallon L with a 6 inch chamber for my return pump. Any advice on what to do with it or macros to add. My display is currently having a little hair algae but I'm doing water changes etc. I just figured its time to finish up the refugium. Thanks for your input.

 

[dtd87]

bumppppppp

 

[jill]

Great question! I'm adding a 100 refugiuim next month and would also love to have suggestions for nitrate removal and critter habitat so I'm tagging along with this thread.

 

[colin779]

When i had a refugium on my tank, keep in mind it was a small chamber in the sump. But I had a shallow sandbed in it with some rubble rock and a ball of chaeto with a clip on light. Seemed to work pretty well, I could always see tons of pods and critters in it. The only reason i haven't put in another since i switched tanks is because the light caused my skimmer to grow algae which was kind of annoying. I was currently trying to figure out a way to use a 10 gallon tank or something under or next to my stand for one right now.

 

[dtd87]

Ah I use a HoB skimmer so that may not be an issue for me.. I thought about adding a shallow sand bed. I have quite a bit of rock in there currently. I even apparently have some copepods and some featherdusters down there. Which was kind of a surprise. I need to find a way to suck out some of the debris that has ended up in it though

 

[dtd87]

Anyone have any input on what macros to add? going to be building a new led refugium light I'm going to make. But for now I have a 36watt t-5 I can use. I figure I have a lot of rock in there that I could potentially move.

 

[jrgilles]

I have some live rock and caulerpa. No sand bed. Makes it easy to clean. I started off with not much live rock, and it was very easy to clean, although I have added more rock to it as I have rearranged my display.

Anyway, seems to work great. Tons of pods, never seen any nitrates. My fuge is also a 20 long.

rob

 

[donrando]

i too use Caulerpa, as seen here, IMO it is best to keep Caulerpa lit 24/7

 

[DonW]

Chaeto is the way to go. Caulerpa can go sexual and contaminate your tank. If any of it gets loose and makes it to the display it will take over.

Don

 

[donrando]

Caulerpa can go sexual and contaminate your tank.

not if it is kept lit 24/7 and pruned with regularity

 

[donrando]

proof it can be real pretty

 

[DonW]

proof it can be real pretty

Weeds

 

[donrando]

they do the job, and look good too :nerd:

 

[jrgilles]

I had grape caulerpa, caulerpa mexicana and chaeto when I started my fuge. I think the chaeto wanted high flow, as the caulerpa was growing way way faster than the chaeto (flow through my fuge is pretty slow)

I don't even think there is any chaeto surviving in there now. I guess it wanted to tumble in current.

Anyway, the caulerpa grows like crazy and is doing a great job. If you use caulerpa, there are a few things you need to know though:

1) lights 24/7 so it doesn't go sexual. I started with it not being 24 hours, and noticed a morphology change after a few months, switched to 24 hour lighting and it went away and has not tried to go sexual since then.

2) Caulerpa is a single celled organism. That is to say, each strand of caulerpa is actually one big cell with subdivisions. If you take a hangful of the caulerpa and rip it out, you will be breaking the cell, and what is left will die. When you remove it, you need to untangle it and remove large pieces. Some breaking is inevitable, but you don't want to just rip it apart.

Anyway, it grows like crazy and I love the stuff. No desire to try to get any chaeto growing in the fuge again.

 

[jrgilles]

Caulerpa: The Fascinating Single-Celled Organism | A Moment of Science - Indiana Public Media

 

[dtd87]

Yeah I don't plan on running a light 24/7 so maybe chaeto is the way to go.. I've read a lot of bout varying light cycles to not have ph swings.

 

[jrgilles]

yea, if you want to alternate lights between your DT and fuge to minimize pH swings, caulerpa is not they way to go

 

[dtd87]

yea, if you want to alternate lights between your DT and fuge to minimize pH swings, caulerpa is not they way to go

agreed