The only thing that will make the water clear is carbon. The skimmer can only pull out so much, and yes, I believe sometimes there is an ever so slight discoloration to the water, but even right now, I can't notice it.
One thing I’m slightly worried about it bottoming out the nitrate and phosphate. The plan is to have a 15 gallon filled with mixed macros and maybe some Xenia. Should I be concerned about this? And if it happens what could I do to fix it?
Feed more!
That was my original plan, however I really like tangs and I want caulerpa macro. So one, I figured the tangs would demolish most macros I put in the display, and two I’m afraid of caulerpa taking over the display if I were to put it in.You can grow some pretty macro algae in your display. That is what I do and it's very effective at nutrient export. Every 2-3 weeks I remove a fair amount of the macro algae. It has reduced my water changes greatly. I do use a small amount of carbon to remove tannins.
You are wise not to add most species of caulerpa as it is difficult to control in a display. I do have caulerpa cupresoides but they do not have that lush look of prolifera.
My original play was prolifera when I started my research, however that quickly changed. I do still want to include it because I love the way it looks. That’s when I came up with the display refugium I plan on using. My goal is to set up a siphon water bridge between the two tanks with 1” or 1.5” pvc and pump water from the display into the refugium to then be returned to the display via the water bridge.
Yep, that should work. The only thing I am not sure of is how big your display tank is compared to the fuge tank size. My display is only 56 gallons and my fuge is 30 gallons, plus I have macros in both and deep sand beds in both. Your fuge is smaller and your display is much bigger. You may be OK if you keep your fish load light, (that is something I never can control, I just love fish!). If your fish load gets heavier you may need to compensate with more water changes if you don't have a skimmer.
My display is a 135. The tank I wanted to use for the refugium is only a 15 gallon, however is a column tank so it matches the height of the display fairly close. I would be up for using a bigger tank for the fuge, however I don’t want to have a stand for the fuge that ends up being like 4 foot tall so the top of the two tanks are at the same height. If I were to go buy a new tank for the refugium what size would you suggest?
How tall is your 135?
Roughly 2ft
Is the 15 gallon fuge also 2 ft? If so you could buy a 30, 40, 56 column tanks or a cube tank although it might be too deep.
It’s about 20 inches so it’s close enough. I plan on building a stand so honestly I can make whatever work but I think it will look much nicer If the tanks are similar height. I’ll take a look into other column tanks and such. What size would you go with?
I agree that having the stands similar heights would look nicer. My 56 gallon column tank is 30" x 18" x 24". Someone on R2R told me that Aqueon does not make the 56 anymore but I like mine and it would give you a lot of room for the macro algae to grow. A 60 cube could work well too.
After some looking one tank that peaks my interest is the aqueon 35 gallon rimless cube. The dimensions are close at 21inches. Any suggestions where to get macro algae once I get this all set up?
Gulf Coast Ecosystems is where I got most of mine. The 35 gallon cube sounds good.
Do you ever have any issues with trace elements? I have heard that refugiums can consume them quite fast.
No, I have not but I dose a capful of Coral vite every week. I am thinking of adding All for Reef once a month to replenish calcium and alkalinity since I am not doing as much water changes now.
