What To Put In Refugium

[fishyman12]

I am new with refugiums and am wondering what is a good macro algae? What are macro algaes I should never get? Are mangroves good? Also... should I have a deep sand bed with coarse sand? Or fine sand? Or should I have an inch sand bed with coarse/fine sand? If I am starting the cycle for my tank tomorrow, when do I add the macroalgae? Anything else i should have in my fuge?
Thanks

[snorvich]

do not get caulerpa, do get chaeto, gracilaria, etc.

[Ron Reefman]

Originally Posted by snorvich

do not get caulerpa, do get chaeto, gracilaria, etc.

I hate to say "not much help" but you could at least explain why? Somehow I expect more from a Team RC member with over 16000 posts?

Caulerpa and some other macro algaes occasionally have a sexual response to changes in salinity or temperature and much of the caulerpa will 'die off' and spread spores. This will turn your water milky green and generally cause a mess. It's not instant death or anything, but why mess with it when Chaeto works just as well and has no side affects?

Some people do mangroves and swear by them. I don't buy it. They are there to export nutrients but they grow way too slow compared to macro algae. I have mangoves in my anemone tank, but they are more for show and I get them for free because I live in SW Florida.

A refugium does NEED any sand. However, you can have sand if you want. I have a 2' x 2' refugium in my sump and use a 6" DSB with macro algae growing above it. Also I can control the flow thru the refugium (from a frag tank on the left side to the pump/evaporation chamber on the right side) with a 1' pipe thru the refugium with bulkheads to the chambers at either side and a ball valve to control the flow. I can cut flow thru the fuge altogether or ramp it up to almost 600 gph. There is an article here at RC about sand beds, you should read it for yourself. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-0...ture/index.php

There isn't any reason I can think of for not starting your reugium right away IMHO. I'm not 100% sure about that and others may disagree.

Ron

[Army_JAG]

I want to build upon the thread above me, Ron gave you some great infomation and made a great point about the Team RC member. As Ron said if you are going to just have Chaeto then there is no need for sand in the refugium at all, but if you are going to want other planted form of macro then you are going to want to add a DSB. What it all boils down to is whether or not you are going to see your refugium. IMO ( I dont have a humble opinion like Ron because I work in Law ) If people are not going to see the refugium then throw a ball of chaeto in there and put a small grow light over it for 8 - 10 hours a day, if your refugium is clearly visible then do a DSB with several different kinds of macro and then you can eventually add something cool like a dragonette or a seahorse that can handle higher temps. As for when to add it, I would wait until your cycle is complete, I don't know how the macro would handle super high nitrates but as they say hindsight is 20/20 and the general thing I say is I wish I would have been patient and waited.

hope this helps