Choosing a macro for refugium. Chaeto vs. Ulva

[Fishbird]

I’m adding a HOB refugium to my tank. Would you pick chaeto or ulva (or something else) to grow and why?

Goals for the refugium: be a place for copepods to reproduce so my tank maintains a stable population for my fish to snack on)

Tank: 29 gallon
HOB Refugium: 1.25 gallon or so (Based on the dimensions it is 2 gallons but other models list a smaller gallon size than dimensions would suggest so I’m guessing a bit)

I also have two sea urchins (both small species not supposed to get larger than 2 or 3 inches in diameter). My urchins so far are finding plenty of algae on my rocks but I know one loves ulva/sea lettuce. I’m not sure if the other does as well.

I’d also like to stabilize pH in my tank so I’ll be running the fuge light at night.

I’d like some nutrient export capabilities but I’m not expecting expecting tons from a HOB fuge.

So, as I said at the start of the post, would you pick chaeto or ulva given my circumstances, and why?

 

[andrewey]

I prefer cheato for nutrient export, but if you have the space, you could always grow both

Be careful what you wish for- when I hooked up my refugium on my 40 breeder, I dropped my nitrates from 25 to 5 in 4 days. A properly lit refugium is really not something to scoff at, whether in a sump or as a HOB. Often, the lighting plays a large role in the growth of the macroalgae.

 

[GlassMunky]

For whatever reason my fuge won’t grow Chaeto, I’ve tried twice now, but grows Ulva like crazy.
If I could, I’d have multiple types, for biodiversity. I’ll probably try Chaeto again at some point lol

 

[Zeal]

Don't get lettuce algae. I some how got it in my display and its an absolute pain in the butt to get rid of..

I have to manually remove it off frag plugs weekly

 

[Fishbird]

Thanks for the thoughts everybody! Keep them coming.

 

[Aardvark1134]

definately sea lettus.
And for the person who can't get it out of their tank...a yellow/blue tang will fix that in 1 weekend.

 

[ichthyoid]

Chaeto grows faster, but ulva is a complete solution, being that it turns waste into food. I’d go with ulva for that reason alone.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I would do both in my refugium I got my best growth and results when I ran a trio of algae. Chaeto, Ulva, and Red Ogo.

 

[Fishbird]

I prefer cheato for nutrient export, but if you have the space, you could always grow both

I would do both in my refugium I got my best growth and results when I ran a trio of algae. Chaeto, Ulva, and Red Ogo.

Do you think I could grow both in a fuge that is 8x5x12?

And, I have heard of people stripping nitrates accidentally with refugia. I’ll be testing/monitoring closely and adjusting my photoperiod and tank feeding as needed. My biggest objective is to have a place for copepods to breed so if worse comes to worse I’ll just put some rubble rock in it and take out the macros.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Do you think I could grow both in a fuge that is 8x5x12?

And, I have heard of people stripping nitrates accidentally with refugia. I’ll be testing/monitoring closely and adjusting my photoperiod and tank feeding as needed. My biggest objective is to have a place for copepods to breed so if worse comes to worse I’ll just put some rubble rock in it and take out the macros.

Absolutely. My fuge was a little bigger than that.

 

[Fishbird]

Absolutely. My fuge was a little bigger than that.

Thanks! I’m so excited! I’ll try ulva and red ogo or ulva and chaeto!

 

[Zeal]

definately sea lettus.
And for the person who can't get it out of their tank...a yellow/blue tang will fix that in 1 weekend.

cant do that in a 40g Nano