Hello,
I have been in the salt a fresh water tanks for many years and have always had algae issues. What a pain to try and manage it so your tank looks nice. Recently i was told by a fish store to limit the lighting to 3 to 4 hours a day if its just a swim tank. I guess my question would be is this OK for the fish? I am assuming it would not be if i ever wanted live rock setup. I am researching building my own refugium and was also wondering if the Skimmer is really needed. I have owned two in the past and they never seemed to pull much out and was constantly having to adjust the whirlpool for bubbles. I have pretty good filters. Almost double whats needed for a 90 gallon. Would doing the refugium with 2 pond pumps. 3 compartment first has a 800 hrpump and pumice stones for bio media then refugium in center leading into another compartment with 800 gallon hr moving back to tank?
I have been in the salt a fresh water tanks for many years and have always had algae issues. What a pain to try and manage it so your tank looks nice. Recently i was told by a fish store to limit the lighting to 3 to 4 hours a day if its just a swim tank. I guess my question would be is this OK for the fish? I am assuming it would not be if i ever wanted live rock setup. I am researching building my own refugium and was also wondering if the Skimmer is really needed. I have owned two in the past and they never seemed to pull much out and was constantly having to adjust the whirlpool for bubbles. I have pretty good filters. Almost double whats needed for a 90 gallon. Would doing the refugium with 2 pond pumps. 3 compartment first has a 800 hrpump and pumice stones for bio media then refugium in center leading into another compartment with 800 gallon hr moving back to tank?
.. 3 or 4 hours of light would be fine for a fish only tank while your fighting algae. Lots of people don’t run skimmers so it’s doable especially if you have a effective refugium.
