HOB Refugium Maintenance
- Thread starter slice
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slice
Active Member
Three weeks later...
I just finished the third 10% W/C in as many weeks and everything looks really good. I can't tell if the BRS carbon has contributed to better water quality, but my SPS sure look happy. The ROX has very consistent sized granules and is nearly dust free. After a very quick rinse under the tap, the bag becomes very noisy. I like it.
I'm seeing amphipods scurrying around again.
I put a new grapefruit sized ball of chaeto in the fuge 3 weeks ago after what had been there had diminished. I bought it at my LFS after a casual inspection...its just a ball of chaeto, right?
Over the last 3 weeks I noticed the greenery in the fuge getting larger and larger, happy knowing it was accumulating nutrient (and somewhat surprised it was finding enough for that amount of growth).
During my W/C today, I pull it out to rinse any crap it might have trapped. I reach in expecting it to come right out as usual, but it resists. ??? I tug and it rips free...WTH?!?
I look at it under a light and what do I find? Mixed in the chaeto is a crapton of grape caulerpa (caulerpa racemosa). CAULERPA! I never wanted any of that in my system. I've read that it is better than chaeto in absorbing nutrient, but I never wanted any possible issues from it going sexual. I separated and disposed as much as I could of it, but caulerpa in my system is my new reality. Dammit.
It is kinda pretty, though...
I just finished the third 10% W/C in as many weeks and everything looks really good. I can't tell if the BRS carbon has contributed to better water quality, but my SPS sure look happy. The ROX has very consistent sized granules and is nearly dust free. After a very quick rinse under the tap, the bag becomes very noisy. I like it.
I'm seeing amphipods scurrying around again.
I put a new grapefruit sized ball of chaeto in the fuge 3 weeks ago after what had been there had diminished. I bought it at my LFS after a casual inspection...its just a ball of chaeto, right?
Over the last 3 weeks I noticed the greenery in the fuge getting larger and larger, happy knowing it was accumulating nutrient (and somewhat surprised it was finding enough for that amount of growth).
During my W/C today, I pull it out to rinse any crap it might have trapped. I reach in expecting it to come right out as usual, but it resists. ??? I tug and it rips free...WTH?!?
I look at it under a light and what do I find? Mixed in the chaeto is a crapton of grape caulerpa (caulerpa racemosa). CAULERPA! I never wanted any of that in my system. I've read that it is better than chaeto in absorbing nutrient, but I never wanted any possible issues from it going sexual. I separated and disposed as much as I could of it, but caulerpa in my system is my new reality. Dammit.
It is kinda pretty, though...
snakeblitz33
Well-Known Member
Caulerpa is fine - actually - as long as you keep it trimmed back and give it plenty of nutrients... it should never go sexual. That's easy enough, right?
slice
Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Al&Burke http:///t/392241/hob-refugium-maintenance/20#post_3485518
I have that stuff in my lion tank love it. Hey Joe when I ran my HOB fuge with my skimmer a few years ago I put sand in it as well - I put a few nassarius snails in it seemed to help the sand bed a bit.
I had not thought of that...good idea. I will put a few nassies in there. I have maybe 1 1/2" of sand in there.
Originally Posted by Al&Burke http:///t/392241/hob-refugium-maintenance/20#post_3485518
I have that stuff in my lion tank love it. Hey Joe when I ran my HOB fuge with my skimmer a few years ago I put sand in it as well - I put a few nassarius snails in it seemed to help the sand bed a bit.
I had not thought of that...good idea. I will put a few nassies in there. I have maybe 1 1/2" of sand in there.
novahobbies
Well-Known Member
Caulerpa is fine for most systems in a fuge - I kept it for a long time without it going funky. It tends to dissolve when parameters start fluctuating irregularly - lighting, salinity, that sort of thing - but when you keep your tank on an even keel it's great.
Just like Chaeto, though, the trick is to harvest.
Hey, how's about you take some pictures of the fuge for us? I have an off-market HOB skimmer/fuge on my 20g tanks and to be perfectly blunt, that skimmer is one of the hardest working skimmers I've used! It's really amazing how fast it can pull out a good thick soup. I don't use the fuge section personally, but only because this is a quasi-QT tank we're talking about here.
Just like Chaeto, though, the trick is to harvest.
Hey, how's about you take some pictures of the fuge for us? I have an off-market HOB skimmer/fuge on my 20g tanks and to be perfectly blunt, that skimmer is one of the hardest working skimmers I've used! It's really amazing how fast it can pull out a good thick soup. I don't use the fuge section personally, but only because this is a quasi-QT tank we're talking about here.
slice
Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by novahobbies http:///t/392241/hob-refugium-maintenance/20#post_3485559
Hey, how's about you take some pictures of the fuge for us? I have an off-market HOB skimmer/fuge on my 20g tanks and to be perfectly blunt, that skimmer is one of the hardest working skimmers I've used! It's really amazing how fast it can pull out a good thick soup. I don't use the fuge section personally, but only because this is a quasi-QT tank we're talking about here.
There are pictures of my skimmer/fuge at the bottom of this post:
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/381452/slices-47g-coral-evolution/160#post_3433749
Skip through the tank pics, that was long ago....
Originally Posted by novahobbies http:///t/392241/hob-refugium-maintenance/20#post_3485559
Hey, how's about you take some pictures of the fuge for us? I have an off-market HOB skimmer/fuge on my 20g tanks and to be perfectly blunt, that skimmer is one of the hardest working skimmers I've used! It's really amazing how fast it can pull out a good thick soup. I don't use the fuge section personally, but only because this is a quasi-QT tank we're talking about here.
There are pictures of my skimmer/fuge at the bottom of this post:
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/381452/slices-47g-coral-evolution/160#post_3433749
Skip through the tank pics, that was long ago....