What should I have in my refuge?

Oly@UK · Jan 10, 2018

I have a 32 us gallon reef. At the moment I have a 2 baffle sump with a skimmer (which I am looking to upgrade?), I have a little live rock rubble for cop pods to live and have recently added some live active carbon. I have tried adding cheato which never grows and dies off. So I believe I need a better light.
My parameters are good but there’s always around 10ppm nitrate and phosphates.
All help is very appreciated

Oly@UK · Jan 10, 2018

Oh and cyano grows on my sand regularly. It’s a cube tank with an mp10 and 6015 for circ

nautical_nathaniel · Jan 10, 2018

I would definitely try a stronger light, check out the BRS investigates series on YouTube for more information about refugium lighting

There are some good options for fighting cyano in this thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/poll-how-have-you-battled-cyano.347915/#post-4331042

SDReefer · Jan 10, 2018

A light with the proper spectrum is a must. I'd consider trying a red and blue horicultural light, which would have the optimum spectrum for plant growth.

Here's an example: http://a.co/f5rpDeE

As for macroalgae, chaeto and calupera are the most common species. I also have Dragon's Breath in my system, and I think that it looks really nice. When it starts growing, you throw out about 1/3 of the algae per week.