Cleanup crew for a refugium

mskvarenina · 01/17/2015, 08:09 AM

My refugium grows a nice bunch of caulerpa but because of the bright lights I also get a carpet of dark green, brown and red (cyano?) algae.

It's full of copepods and amphipods who graze on everything all day but I was wondering what sort of cleanup crew I could put in there that would clean up the carpet like algae (it looks like a sheet of paper with some holes here and there) but not eat the caulerpa?

mskvarenina · 01/17/2015, 08:10 AM

BTW, my caulerpa is the grape variety.

dkeller_nc · 01/17/2015, 08:29 AM

Yikes! Most of us would recommend getting rid of the caulerpa, especially the "racemosa" variety (the kind you have). It tends to take over tanks, and because the runners get deep into live rock crevices, it can be nearly impossible to eradicate. Chaetomorpha ("spaghetti" algae) would be a much better choice.

As for the cyano, if it is actually cyano, very few creatures will eat it, so you might be out of luck as far as a CUC. Best thought here is to consider a 3-day lights-out period for your refugium; that's typically enough to kill a cyano outbreak.

Zbreefer · 01/17/2015, 08:53 AM

Piggy backing as I have a similar issue in my fuge. Will 3 day lights out hurt my chaeto?

dkeller_nc · 01/17/2015, 08:57 AM

No - almost all macroalgae can survive a week or more without light. Keep in mind that to be effective against cyano, you have to go 3 days with the complete absence of light. Depending on your stand design, this might require you to black out the refugium with black plastic.

mskvarenina · 01/17/2015, 09:40 AM

The caulerpa is only in the sump refugium, it never makes it up tot the DT.

I'd love to grow chaeto but for unknown reasons it just never grows. I've tried 4 times with chaeto which I got from my LFS and eBay. It always starts off nice and green but within 1-2 weeks it looses its color, starts to turn white/clear and break up and/or starts turning black with I think a dark algae growing on it. The caulerpa grapes also get coated with a slimy algae but it shakes off easily and new grapes sprout continuously

If you have any ideas on the chaeto, let me know

mskvarenina · 01/17/2015, 09:45 AM

BTW, the fuge does get a constant supply of moving water from a pump the feeds the chiller then UV. I built a spray bar which covers the whole length of the fuge and seems to provide a lot of water.

I was considering adding a small power head tot the fuge just to add more circulation but I could figure out the chaeto issue that would be awesome.

dkeller_nc · 01/17/2015, 10:00 AM

You'll have to trust me on this one, but the caulerpa will eventually make it onto your DT, guaranteed. It's hard to know why your cheato won't grow; this could be the result of insufficient lighting or lighting of the wrong spectrum, and could also be that your tank doesn't have enough nutrients to keep it alive. This last scenario is common in an SPS tank that's heavily mechanically and chemically filtered, especially with GFO.

mskvarenina · 01/17/2015, 10:47 PM

Well here's my setup:

93g FO tank heavily stocked with tangs, Angels, triggers, Anthias, clowns and wrasses.

Nitrates always high, between 50-100 per the Salifert kit.

2 sun blaster fluorescent tubes specifically designed as plant/grow bulbs, 1fluval LED plant strip.

BPR, skimmer and UV.

Last I checked phosphates were high also.

Don't really know why the chaeto always just dies...

dkeller_nc · 01/18/2015, 09:20 AM

I agree - that's mysterious. Chaeto usually grows quite well under conditions of high nitrate and/or phosphate. My guess would be that you're lighting's too strong. I'd try again, except take one of the plant growlight fluorescents out of the fixture.

01/17/2015, 08:09 AM	#1
mskvarenina Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 286	Cleanup crew for a refugium My refugium grows a nice bunch of caulerpa but because of the bright lights I also get a carpet of dark green, brown and red (cyano?) algae. It's full of copepods and amphipods who graze on everything all day but I was wondering what sort of cleanup crew I could put in there that would clean up the carpet like algae (it looks like a sheet of paper with some holes here and there) but not eat the caulerpa?

01/17/2015, 08:10 AM	#2
mskvarenina Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 286	BTW, my caulerpa is the grape variety.

01/17/2015, 08:29 AM	#3
dkeller_nc Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Central NC Posts: 5,062	Yikes! Most of us would recommend getting rid of the caulerpa, especially the "racemosa" variety (the kind you have). It tends to take over tanks, and because the runners get deep into live rock crevices, it can be nearly impossible to eradicate. Chaetomorpha ("spaghetti" algae) would be a much better choice. As for the cyano, if it is actually cyano, very few creatures will eat it, so you might be out of luck as far as a CUC. Best thought here is to consider a 3-day lights-out period for your refugium; that's typically enough to kill a cyano outbreak.

01/17/2015, 08:53 AM	#4
Zbreefer Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 228	Piggy backing as I have a similar issue in my fuge. Will 3 day lights out hurt my chaeto?

01/17/2015, 08:57 AM	#5
dkeller_nc Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Central NC Posts: 5,062	No - almost all macroalgae can survive a week or more without light. Keep in mind that to be effective against cyano, you have to go 3 days with the complete absence of light. Depending on your stand design, this might require you to black out the refugium with black plastic.

01/17/2015, 09:40 AM	#6
mskvarenina Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 286	The caulerpa is only in the sump refugium, it never makes it up tot the DT. I'd love to grow chaeto but for unknown reasons it just never grows. I've tried 4 times with chaeto which I got from my LFS and eBay. It always starts off nice and green but within 1-2 weeks it looses its color, starts to turn white/clear and break up and/or starts turning black with I think a dark algae growing on it. The caulerpa grapes also get coated with a slimy algae but it shakes off easily and new grapes sprout continuously If you have any ideas on the chaeto, let me know

01/17/2015, 09:45 AM	#7
mskvarenina Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 286	BTW, the fuge does get a constant supply of moving water from a pump the feeds the chiller then UV. I built a spray bar which covers the whole length of the fuge and seems to provide a lot of water. I was considering adding a small power head tot the fuge just to add more circulation but I could figure out the chaeto issue that would be awesome.

01/17/2015, 10:00 AM	#8
dkeller_nc Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Central NC Posts: 5,062	You'll have to trust me on this one, but the caulerpa will eventually make it onto your DT, guaranteed. It's hard to know why your cheato won't grow; this could be the result of insufficient lighting or lighting of the wrong spectrum, and could also be that your tank doesn't have enough nutrients to keep it alive. This last scenario is common in an SPS tank that's heavily mechanically and chemically filtered, especially with GFO.

01/17/2015, 10:47 PM	#9
mskvarenina Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 286	Well here's my setup: 93g FO tank heavily stocked with tangs, Angels, triggers, Anthias, clowns and wrasses. Nitrates always high, between 50-100 per the Salifert kit. 2 sun blaster fluorescent tubes specifically designed as plant/grow bulbs, 1fluval LED plant strip. BPR, skimmer and UV. Last I checked phosphates were high also. Don't really know why the chaeto always just dies...

01/18/2015, 09:20 AM	#10
dkeller_nc Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Central NC Posts: 5,062	I agree - that's mysterious. Chaeto usually grows quite well under conditions of high nitrate and/or phosphate. My guess would be that you're lighting's too strong. I'd try again, except take one of the plant growlight fluorescents out of the fixture.