Cleaned refugium...

guitareefs · Dec 27, 2017

My refugium has been nasty for some time. Im used to seeing clean fuges with lots of clean chaeto

My fuge has been covered in red and green slime, what looks like gha and white slime covered chaeto. Finally got tired of it and cleaned it all out.

So far just fish in the tank.

Anything i should be ready for parameter wise/change in tank? Like algae growing from the gunk that got loose in the DT?

Should i add a dsb in the fuge with new chaeto? Or just leave it as chaeto only?

Thanks!

DLHDesign · Dec 27, 2017

Odds are that if you had more algae in the sump than the tank, you either have an effective CUC (including snails, fish, etc.) in your DT and/or the lights in your sump overpower the lights in your DT (causing a better growing environment in the sump than the DT). Cleaning it out shouldn't cause a redistribution of anything (that was happening via your return pump anyways); just a "reset" of the growth. The caveat to that would be if your sump life was a significant factor in your nutrient export process, you may see an uptick in those nutrients in the short-term. Unless you had a really dirty sump or did a poor job of actually removing most of the detritus you cleaned off, however, this is unlikely.

If you're looking for a course of action, keep a closer eye on your ammonia levels in the days/weeks ahead. A slight (0.01-0.02) uptick in the short-term is likely okay (what you were unable to remove will break down some); a longer-lasting or more significant upward trend may indicate that you've changed the balance of your tank. Both of these I would deem unlikely to happen, but don't really have enough info about your tank to offer a "most likely" result, sorry.

Note that to keep your sump clean, you'll likely want to add some CUC members down into your sump. Where possible, of course - small snails in your return chamber might not be a good thing...

guitareefs · Dec 27, 2017

My tank is 300 gallons. The sump is 60 gallons

I do have a strainer on my vectra return pump so maybe snails will be ok. But my I'd be worried about my bio pellet reactor and skimmer pumps...

I just dont wanna keep having to clean it and worry about the debris swimming around the tank from the cleaning.

Should i add a dsb in the fuge this time?

guitareefs · Dec 28, 2017

GHA has been growing in my DT tank starting a couple months back. Not exploding and growing everywhere but staying there. Ive added more snails, a tuxedo urchin and a lawnmower blenny.

I have taken out most of the rock and scrubbed the gha off and it hasn't come back

I moved this tank back in June. Bought it and kept all the rock and all the sand. Rinsed out the sand well before i placed it back and even added a lot more new sand.

DLHDesign · Dec 28, 2017

That you have algae growth means that you have excess nutrients in your system. Unless/until you reduce those nutrients through some other (more efficient/more aggressive) means, you will just get more algae in the future. You can try reducing your feedings, perhaps - over-feeding is a common excess nutrient source. It's not clear to me if you already have macro-algae in your system or not, but if not - that could be an option as well (assuming you light it well and have adequate flow and space, of course). I've added mangroves into my sump and that helped a bit (not as good as macros, but better than nothing and they don't take up much space).

Sorry; not sure what a "dsb" is in this context?

You may just be dealing with residual issues from the previous setup as well (GHA usually doesn't stay gone unless the source of the problem was removed). You may just want to wait for a bit and see what happens before making any large-scale changes trying to chase down a problem that may not exist.

guitareefs · Dec 28, 2017

Deep Sand Bed is what i mean by dsb. I have shallow bed in the dt. Wonder if a dsb would help in the fuge

DLHDesign · Dec 28, 2017

Ah - right.
It could help reduce nitrates, perhaps. That would take time to develop, of course, so you won't see any impact for a while with that method of export. It's maximum potential for export would also depend upon how large a bed you could hold - and I'm not sure that an ideal depth vs. width/height has ever been established (most would likely agree at least 6" deep, I'd think).

mtraylor · Dec 28, 2017

I would put a small pump in the refugium area to circulate water better in there. That will help get rid of some of the slime that you are seeing.

guitareefs · Dec 28, 2017

I tried putting a small nano pump and algae always gets caught in the intake

Mombo · Dec 28, 2017

I was thinking about adding a powerhead to my fuge. Like a jebao sw-4 or something cheap and small. Maybe just a koralia....

guitareefs · Dec 28, 2017

Mombo said:
I was thinking about adding a powerhead to my fuge. Like a jebao sw-4 or something cheap and small. Maybe just a koralia....

I have a nano koralia and chaeto kept covering it when i installed it in the fuge. Wonder of any other options for flow?

mtraylor · Dec 28, 2017

I use a nano tunze in mine. Its right above the sand in the bottom. No issues. Where do you place yours?

Mombo · Dec 28, 2017

Which tunze do you use? Do you have it pointing across your sand or angled up towards the surface?

mtraylor · Dec 29, 2017

I use tunze 6015. I pretty much have it straight, might be slightly tilted up. I cant really see it due to the chaeto. I have on one side of the cube just a little bit above the sand. Doesn't stir up anything and the little bit of chaeto that gets on the screens doesn't bother it at all. About every 3 months or so I will put my hand down there and remove any debri on it. Usually just a couple strains on it. Works well.

On the surface of my refuge I have a dual return head that I regulate flow into the refugium.