Refugium

[Sacha1]

I have a 25 gallon sump with a refugium set up for 6 months. It has three types of maecro algae. Do I need to do any maintenance such as cleaning? Do I remove any of the algae or just leave it?

[spw4949]

Once the macro starts growing you should trim it back. Someone on here told me that your macro should take up about 1/3 of the space in your sump & once it starts to grow trim it back to where it originally was. Trimming it back helps with nutrient export.

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by Sacha1
I have a 25 gallon sump with a refugium set up for 6 months. It has three types of maecro algae. Do I need to do any maintenance such as cleaning? Do I remove any of the algae or just leave it?

first of all I would make sure there is no caulpera alage--feather or grape---in there
Chaeto is the best algae and the least problematic:

Once a week take the cheato ball or amount you have and tear it in half. This ripping causes rapid repair or growth over a large area of it
Rapid growth means rapid use of nitrates and phosphates from your system.

Once a month or if you see the chaeto browning remove it(harvest it) This removal rids the system of the nitrates and phosphates that the macro algae has accumulated.
and what spw4949 was refering to

[spw4949]

Capn, why is the caulerpa bad? Just wondering because I have some in my fuge. I keep it seperate from the chaeto I have because I did notice it grows rapidly but it hasn't caused any problems in my tank.

[salmonslayer]

Just my 2 cents. Capn_hylinur said it best. Try and stay with Chaeto. Best of luck to ya.

[jenglish]

Caulp can go sexual, which means it will release almost all of its nutrients in the form of spores. Your tank will look very milky. If not properly managed a case of going sexual can crash a tank

[WaterKeeper]

It is also highly invasive and will move from the sump to the display and slowly appear everywhere. Once that happens you'll be pulling out algae, and your hair, constantly.

[Sacha1]

I'm not sure what kind of algae I have. One is in a ball that floats around. It's like string and very coarse. One is attached to the rocks and vines out, it kind of looks like ivy. The third one is red and it attaches to the live rock also. The guy at the LFS gave it to me out of his tanks. What is Chaeto?

[CoRPS]

Chaeto is the ball of spaghetti you have floating around.

[WaterKeeper]

and the Caulerpa is probably the rooted algae.

[Aquarist007]

here is a couple of blogs to read on cheato, and caulerpa going sexual

http://www.reefcentral.com/wp/?p=381

http://www.reefcentral.com/wp/?p=278

http://www.reefcentral.com/wp/?p=380

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by Sacha1
I'm not sure what kind of algae I have. One is in a ball that floats around. It's like string and very coarse. One is attached to the rocks and vines out, it kind of looks like ivy. The third one is red and it attaches to the live rock also. The guy at the LFS gave it to me out of his tanks. What is Chaeto?

can you post a picture of your fuge

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by Sacha1
I'm not sure what kind of algae I have. One is in a ball that floats around. It's like string and very coarse. One is attached to the rocks and vines out, it kind of looks like ivy. The third one is red and it attaches to the live rock also. The guy at the LFS gave it to me out of his tanks. What is Chaeto?

Chaeto


Chaeto as it is sometimes called has the ability to host a whole slew of organisms such as pods, mini stars, and worms. When properly cared for it grows into a dense ball that gives the organisms a place to hide. Chaeto is preferred by reef tanks owners over Caulerpa becouse unlike Caulerpa it does not go sexual. When Caulerpa goes sexual it releases most of its nutrients it has absorbed and it could cause a tank crash. Using Chaeto will help fight nuisance algae.

Chaetomorpha is best used in a refugium with a little flow and a light. A lot of people have had success growing this macro algae with a basic compact fluorescent 75 watt (5100K) floodlight.

http://www.brettsreef.com/index.php/...-chaetomorpha/

Caulerpa


Caulerpa is a fast growing attractive algae of which there are many variations with leaves that look like ferns, grapes, etc. Not surprisingly, the different types are named after the look of their leaves. All grow rapidly by sending out runners which are held in place by root like holdfasts.
Some species, especially Grape C. can go sexual and disintegrate overnight adding substantial biological load to the tank. This can be minimized by heavy pruning which seems to retard this tendency. There is also some evidence that keeping the lighting on 24/7 will prevent this from happening. This is obviously only an option when the algae is housed in a refugia or sump. Herbivorous fish like tangs will sometimes help to keep the Caulerpa in check.
http://www.reefcorner.com/SpecimenSheets/caulerpa.htm

[Sacha1]

Originally posted by capn_hylinur
can you post a picture of your fuge

Here is a picture of my refugium. I don't know if you can see the thing at the top. Is that a glass anemone? It is attached to the glass.