algae in refugium

customanimalart · 04/06/2007, 03:38 PM

I have a newly set up 55g with a hang on refugium. (set-up 7 weeks)

At my last check...

pH 7.8-8.0 (trying to bring it up slowly to 8.3 using reef buffer seachem)
SG 1.023
KH 150 mg/L (3 meq/L) or 8.4 dKH
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Calcium 400
PO4 >1 (less than 1)
temp 79-81* depending on time of day.

I have a bundle of chaetomorpha, LR rubble and live sand (about 15 lbs) in the refugium,

I have some zoas, shrooms and fish. They are all healthy and active.

Problem is that I have alot of red/greenish snottly slime in the refugium and I can't find out if this is bad or not. I do not notice any in the main tank. The main tank is going through the normal algae bloom as it settles in. There is light green dusting on the glass daily as well as a little filamentous algae on a few of the powerheads and new base rock is very green, but that is all. There is about 20 lbs of live rock (from my nano) and 80 lbs of live sand.

I have 2 clowns, a mandarin (little pods can be seen all over my tanks and he also eats formula one too) and 3 bratty juvie damsels (which BTW I need to transfer out before they get really bad, but I can't catch them and they won't fall for the "trap" thing.)

I have a variety of hermits and snails.

I have been leaving the ref lights on at night and off in the day, but over the past week, the slime is growing crazy.

What shall I do here? Anything? What do I do if it gets into the main tank. So far, it has not.
Thanks.

papagimp · 04/06/2007, 04:15 PM

What's happening is that the cheato is not sufficient to outcompete all the other algae in your fuge. By this I mean, it's not pulling enough nutrients from the water to keep the slime from popping up (sounds like cyno, I get it in my fuge too, I just leave it alone for the most part) Once the cheato grows sufficiently in size, I would imagine the other alga to slow down or go away entirely. If it really bugs ya, just syphon out the red slimey crap. fwiw, the only places in my entire tank setup that I see this stuff is the output from my Seaclone and in my sump. Both are on opposite ends from each other, one to the right side and below the tank, the skimmer sits on top left corner. Nothing pops up between the two.

customanimalart · 04/08/2007, 05:12 PM

Thanks for the reply. I thought that it might be cyano but I never had that in my nano so I wasn't too sure.
Maybe I will get another clump of chaeto to help keep up with it. It sure is unappealing to the eye to see. Yuck!
Thanks again.

04/06/2007, 03:38 PM	#1
customanimalart Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Kissimmee Florida Posts: 636	algae in refugium I have a newly set up 55g with a hang on refugium. (set-up 7 weeks) At my last check... pH 7.8-8.0 (trying to bring it up slowly to 8.3 using reef buffer seachem) SG 1.023 KH 150 mg/L (3 meq/L) or 8.4 dKH Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 0 Calcium 400 PO4 >1 (less than 1) temp 79-81* depending on time of day. I have a bundle of chaetomorpha, LR rubble and live sand (about 15 lbs) in the refugium, I have some zoas, shrooms and fish. They are all healthy and active. Problem is that I have alot of red/greenish snottly slime in the refugium and I can't find out if this is bad or not. I do not notice any in the main tank. The main tank is going through the normal algae bloom as it settles in. There is light green dusting on the glass daily as well as a little filamentous algae on a few of the powerheads and new base rock is very green, but that is all. There is about 20 lbs of live rock (from my nano) and 80 lbs of live sand. I have 2 clowns, a mandarin (little pods can be seen all over my tanks and he also eats formula one too) and 3 bratty juvie damsels (which BTW I need to transfer out before they get really bad, but I can't catch them and they won't fall for the "trap" thing.) I have a variety of hermits and snails. I have been leaving the ref lights on at night and off in the day, but over the past week, the slime is growing crazy. What shall I do here? Anything? What do I do if it gets into the main tank. So far, it has not. Thanks.

04/06/2007, 04:15 PM	#2
papagimp COMAS Rocks! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 8,185 Blog Entries: 2	What's happening is that the cheato is not sufficient to outcompete all the other algae in your fuge. By this I mean, it's not pulling enough nutrients from the water to keep the slime from popping up (sounds like cyno, I get it in my fuge too, I just leave it alone for the most part) Once the cheato grows sufficiently in size, I would imagine the other alga to slow down or go away entirely. If it really bugs ya, just syphon out the red slimey crap. fwiw, the only places in my entire tank setup that I see this stuff is the output from my Seaclone and in my sump. Both are on opposite ends from each other, one to the right side and below the tank, the skimmer sits on top left corner. Nothing pops up between the two. __________________ 58g Softie & 75g Stoney Member, Central Oklahoma Marine Aquarium Society Current Tank Info: 58g Mixed Reef Project - Started June 2011

04/08/2007, 05:12 PM	#3
customanimalart Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Kissimmee Florida Posts: 636	Thanks for the reply. I thought that it might be cyano but I never had that in my nano so I wasn't too sure. Maybe I will get another clump of chaeto to help keep up with it. It sure is unappealing to the eye to see. Yuck! Thanks again. __________________ Darn aiptasia!!! Current Tank Info: 55g reef, 12g QT, and 55g frag tank.