Love your clam, quite impressive!
How did you set up the Xenia fuge?
Thank you!
There isn't a short way to answer this question, for me its been trial and error over many years. But if I was to boil it down to several key components they would be:
- Know your system
Before a person attempts to do an alternate form of filtration, they must first have a finger on the nutrient pulse of their tank, and the way it ebbs and flows. I wouldn't attempt this if you are battling nuisance algae growth or if you are constantly having to clean your glass. One of the ways you know that the Xenia fuge is working is by watching these indicators very closely, and having it stable/in balance will make it much easier to notice a change in your system so you can adjust if needed.
-Building a Xenia fuge must me done intentionally.
I've found it pretty much an all or nothing endeavor. To run both a skimmer and a massive Xenia colony could potentially lead to a crash. Though I've never had this happen I could see the potential problem being that you have 2 competing nutrient exporters, with one (the skimmer) that isn't as consistent as a living nutrient exporter. When your system is "dialed in" you will notice a difference in the Xenia when the skimmer is clean vs dirty. When it is clean the Xenia will pulse slower, and not grow as fast. Just allow the Xenia population to grow to meet the needs of the system. Trust me it will do everything you need it to and more.
- Try and keep it in a remote system.
Or in your sump with very low flow and a baffle to shield it from your return pump. Once you know you can grow Xenia successfully it can easily become a plague in your system, and if that happens it is very difficult to remove.
-Cycling your skimmer.
Once you've started the fuge and the Xenia is growing well. The next step is wait until the Xenia growth plateaus. Now you are ready to reduce the skimmer run time to just 12hrs a day. With in a few days you will notice a marked increase in the algae growing on your glass and your Xenia population will begin to grow to fill the void created by the skimmer being off. So much of this will depend on the bio load of your system. Once you are back to where the Xenia stops growing as fast. Reduce the skimmer by another 12hrs and see what happens. This is pretty much the process you will follow for several months until you will eventually turn the skimmer off for good. Or just dial it down to a point were it no longer skims but still provides oxygen to the system.
- Take it slow
Remember nothing good happens quickly in this hobby. It will take time for your Xenia population to fulfill the needs of your system. It was an unlearning process for me. I believed a skimmer was necessary for any successful reef. So I based my system around its performance, and I stocked according to the skimmer's potential. Once I stopped using it and went to a natural filtration source the system became much easier to manage with less maintenance, and the coral health was optimum.
There is so much I am sure I left out. If you decide to do this PM me your phone number and I can discuss it with you in further detail. GOOD LUCK!
