What should I grow in my Fuge

[s2881100]

I need some expert to save my poor tank.
recently there were 2 fish dead in tank,
No3 raise to 40 ppm
Po4 is about 0.8 mg/L

What kind of algae should I grow in my Fuge?
Will algae absorb Po4 as well?

I want to culture Amphipods/Copepods in fuge as well,
should I add some food to feed them?

Thank you very much for ur answer.

[BCreefmaker]

how much money do you have to throw away is the real question

[Aadler]

Feed DT's phyto for the pods, chaetomorpha is the most popular for its ease.

[marduc]

cheatomorpha is arguably the best bet for refugium macroalgea, it does not root, will not go sexual and release toxins, forms a dense ball which is an ideal amphipod breeding ground, and provided with decent lighting will grow rapidly.

Yes the algae will uptake PO4 as well as nitrates.

Are you doing water changes to get your levels back in check?? algae will not miraculously save your tank, you need to assist in this scenario, what the algae will do is outcompete nuisance species for nutrients, which then can be removed from the system via pruning and harvesting of the macroalgae.

[blaze98]

cheato is great, my pods love hiding there.

[s2881100]

Because I didn't want to setup a skimmer,
everytime when I change the position of rocks,
or something die in the tank,
NO3 will always raise like crazy,
I do water change 10 % each week,
when the No3 is too high, 10% every 3 days.

Last time I had a kind of grape algae,
It died out within few days,
and caused a disaster.

I think the reason for my Fuge is zooplankton,
and cheato is very difficult to get in Taiwan,
people love the grape or feather algae more.

Should I put the source of zooplankton in my Fuge?
Or few pounds of LR will do?

Thank you all guys, you gave me really good answer.

[jamiep]

Have a look on eBay. Chaeto is very good. Make sure there is enough light in your fuge for your algae. Why no skimmer anyway? If your not running a skimmer you really have to get water changes going!

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by s2881100
I need some expert to save my poor tank.
recently there were 2 fish dead in tank,
No3 raise to 40 ppm
Po4 is about 0.8 mg/L

What kind of algae should I grow in my Fuge?
Will algae absorb Po4 as well?

I want to culture Amphipods/Copepods in fuge as well,
should I add some food to feed them?

Thank you very much for ur answer.

althought phosphates are consumed by algae I think you need to get a handle on the high phosphate and nitrate level causes

usually phosphates are caused by overfeeding or not using r/o water
cut back on the amount that you actually feed at one time--go with more frequent less amount feeds if you have to

are you using r/0 water.

consider adding a phosban reactor--- cheap investment-35$

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by s2881100
Because I didn't want to setup a skimmer,
everytime when I change the position of rocks,
or something die in the tank,
NO3 will always raise like crazy,
I do water change 10 % each week,
when the No3 is too high, 10% every 3 days.

Last time I had a kind of grape algae,
It died out within few days,
and caused a disaster.

I think the reason for my Fuge is zooplankton,
and cheato is very difficult to get in Taiwan,
people love the grape or feather algae more.

Should I put the source of zooplankton in my Fuge?
Or few pounds of LR will do?

Thank you all guys, you gave me really good answer.

the zooplankton will grow from the water column--or get a cup of water from a friends's fuge to seed it.

there are two main uses of the refugium
to raise a variety of inverts to feed the main tank

or to add as an extra for your filtration system

in both cases the flow through the refugium is the key.
For inverts you want a low flow and for filtration you want a high flow through it so more water is filtered.

In your case it sounds as though you want it for filtration so you might consider buying a ball of cheato and putting a light on it 24/7 to get some rapid growth.
Live rock in the fuge would be as effective as in your tank or sump so it is a matter of choice--as long as it has access to the total water column. some reefers move live rock from main tank to sump or refug to create more swimming room for fish.

At a point--in a few months you will have to take out some of the cheato(harvest it) in order to remove the nitrates they absorb from the water column--until you do they are still in the system and if the cheato dies off be released back into it.

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by s2881100
Because I didn't want to setup a skimmer,
everytime when I change the position of rocks,
or something die in the tank,
NO3 will always raise like crazy,
I do water change 10 % each week,
when the No3 is too high, 10% every 3 days.

this is a good reason for running a refugium.

how much live rock do you have in your tank and what kind of sand bed.
those spikes should not be happening everytime you change a rock or twe.

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by capn_hylinur
this is a good reason for running a protein skimmer

how much live rock do you have in your tank and what kind of sand bed.
those spikes should not be happening everytime you change a rock or twe.

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by capn_hylinur
this is a good reason for running a protein skimmer.

how much live rock do you have in your tank and what kind of sand bed.
those spikes should not be happening everytime you change a rock or twe.

[Aquarist007]

sorry----the editing feature on RC is going crazy--not me

[Aadler]

ill send you a baggy of cheato from the US if you want, unless it will get stopped in customs, you would have to pay shipping, but i cant imagine an envelope with a baggy in it would be costly to ship... IME cheato is really really hard to kill.

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by Aadler
ill send you a baggy of cheato from the US if you want, unless it will get stopped in customs, you would have to pay shipping, but i cant imagine an envelope with a baggy in it would be costly to ship... IME cheato is really really hard to kill.

mmm I would think not as long as the cheato wasn't ground up in flake form and shipped with a pipe :