Refugium help

jcoll · 03/06/2012, 07:49 PM

ive had my fuge set up for a good coople months with culerpa and chaeto with a bottom of mineral mud i have about 125 gph going through my 20 gal high tank with a 65w pc but i see very little growth since i started it and i see alot of white little rock looking things all over the place in there
any help would be greatly apreciated!

daplatapus · 03/06/2012, 07:53 PM

Any chance you could post pics?

jcoll · 03/06/2012, 07:58 PM

will do give me 1 min

jcoll · 03/06/2012, 08:14 PM

jcoll · 03/06/2012, 08:15 PM

some of the stuff on the culerpa is sand but the rest is all the little white balls

Zypharus · 03/06/2012, 08:23 PM

Difficult to tell for sure, but theres a possibility they're tiny fan worms. do they have a sort of curled shape up close?

jcoll · 03/06/2012, 08:46 PM

Yea kind of but there's nothing visible that comes out of it also I'm getting no other kind of alge growth and I thought I was supposed too with a fuge ??

Zypharus · 03/06/2012, 09:24 PM

I have thousands of those little curly 'rocks' and they're tiny fan worms. Beneficial filter feeders.

As for fuge growth, depends alot on available nutrients and light. Do you have any measureable amounts of nitrates/phosphates? If there isnt any, your present macro growth could have already removed them which is a good thing in my book. Chalk it up to working as intended

jcoll · 03/06/2012, 09:34 PM

All my parameters are at zero I keep them there most of the time my nitrates might go up a tiny bit sometimes but that's usually knocked out with water change....
Should I let my nitrates build up a bit more so I can get more growth???

jcoll · 03/06/2012, 09:35 PM

All my parameters are at zero I keep them there most of the time my nitrates might go up a tiny bit sometimes but that's usually knocked out with water change....
Should I let my nitrates build up a bit more so I can get more growth???

Zypharus · 03/06/2012, 09:53 PM

Unless there is a reason you're needing rampant macro growth I would leave it be. There would be an entirely different course of action if you had nutrient issues and poor macro growth, but from what info you've provided it seems like all is well. Purposefully increasing algae nutrients would be an advanced topic beyond my experience however that sounds like a tricky road to follow. Refugium macro algae isnt the only thing feeding on those same nutrients, there are plenty of others that could cause all sorts of headaches. Besides, the whole purpose of the reugium's macro is to out-compete those other algaes for food, no sense in tipping the scales if it is already doing its job.

jcoll · 03/07/2012, 06:14 PM

ooh ok
thanks for the help

03/06/2012, 07:49 PM	#1
jcoll Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 392	Refugium help ive had my fuge set up for a good coople months with culerpa and chaeto with a bottom of mineral mud i have about 125 gph going through my 20 gal high tank with a 65w pc but i see very little growth since i started it and i see alot of white little rock looking things all over the place in there any help would be greatly apreciated!

03/06/2012, 07:53 PM	#2
daplatapus Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Port Alberni, B.C., Canada Posts: 895	Any chance you could post pics? __________________ 130 lbs Tonga LR, GFO and Carbon reactors, Tunze ozmolator ATO, 2- 20 gal QT tanks, Current Tank Info: 80 gal display 48L X 24H X16D, 2 MP-40's, Odyssea 2-250W MH 4-HO T-5 Actinic's, 80 lbs Aragonite sand, 4 - 150W titanium heaters, Reeflo Baracuda return pump, 150gal sump, Filter Guys Reef Miser 6 stage + 1 Dual RO/DI, LifeReef 48" Skimmer

03/06/2012, 08:23 PM	#6
Zypharus Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Spring Hill, Florida Posts: 52	Difficult to tell for sure, but theres a possibility they're tiny fan worms. do they have a sort of curled shape up close? __________________ Current Tank Info: 75g mixed reef / 30g sump & refugium / EV-120 skimmer / 2x MP10w / 2x Eheim 1260 / 2x 24 LED DIY Panels / BRS Carbon reactor

03/06/2012, 09:24 PM	#8
Zypharus Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Spring Hill, Florida Posts: 52	I have thousands of those little curly 'rocks' and they're tiny fan worms. Beneficial filter feeders. As for fuge growth, depends alot on available nutrients and light. Do you have any measureable amounts of nitrates/phosphates? If there isnt any, your present macro growth could have already removed them which is a good thing in my book. Chalk it up to working as intended __________________ Current Tank Info: 75g mixed reef / 30g sump & refugium / EV-120 skimmer / 2x MP10w / 2x Eheim 1260 / 2x 24 LED DIY Panels / BRS Carbon reactor

03/06/2012, 09:53 PM	#11
Zypharus Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Spring Hill, Florida Posts: 52	Unless there is a reason you're needing rampant macro growth I would leave it be. There would be an entirely different course of action if you had nutrient issues and poor macro growth, but from what info you've provided it seems like all is well. Purposefully increasing algae nutrients would be an advanced topic beyond my experience however that sounds like a tricky road to follow. Refugium macro algae isnt the only thing feeding on those same nutrients, there are plenty of others that could cause all sorts of headaches. Besides, the whole purpose of the reugium's macro is to out-compete those other algaes for food, no sense in tipping the scales if it is already doing its job. __________________ Current Tank Info: 75g mixed reef / 30g sump & refugium / EV-120 skimmer / 2x MP10w / 2x Eheim 1260 / 2x 24 LED DIY Panels / BRS Carbon reactor Last edited by Zypharus; 03/06/2012 at 09:57 PM. Reason: more info

03/06/2012, 07:58 PM	#3
jcoll Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 392	will do give me 1 min

03/06/2012, 08:14 PM	#4
jcoll Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 392

03/06/2012, 08:15 PM	#5
jcoll Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 392	some of the stuff on the culerpa is sand but the rest is all the little white balls

03/06/2012, 08:46 PM	#7
jcoll Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 392	Yea kind of but there's nothing visible that comes out of it also I'm getting no other kind of alge growth and I thought I was supposed too with a fuge ??

03/06/2012, 09:34 PM	#9
jcoll Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 392	All my parameters are at zero I keep them there most of the time my nitrates might go up a tiny bit sometimes but that's usually knocked out with water change.... Should I let my nitrates build up a bit more so I can get more growth???

03/06/2012, 09:35 PM	#10
jcoll Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 392	All my parameters are at zero I keep them there most of the time my nitrates might go up a tiny bit sometimes but that's usually knocked out with water change.... Should I let my nitrates build up a bit more so I can get more growth???

03/07/2012, 06:14 PM	#12
jcoll Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 392	ooh ok thanks for the help