Why refugiums help keep dragonets ALIVE.

speg

speg

Active Member
I need a ... refugium :p Once I get my bowfront back and set it up here I plan on either going sump-refugium or HOB.. can't decide what to do quite yet...
Right now in my nano I just string chaeto on the surface skimmer and let it grow.. and clip it down :p
How come you don't have plants in yours? You always make swf.com purchases!
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
What plants should I put in? I had chaeto...it died
or something ate it LOL I am planning on getting some more....I just forgot with my last order...
 
speg

speg

Active Member
hmm.. the chaeto died? interesting...
When I started up this nano I put chaeto in the back chambers thinking that the light would hit it back there (without putting additional light to the chaeto) and it started dying.. then I hung some on the skimmer box and it took off.. now it's growing on my rocks in spots throughout the tank...
I've had a lot of success in the past with chaeto and calurpa. I used to dose iron in the tank. Not sure if it helps but the calurpa really took off. LFS used to buy clumps for $5 a zip-lock.
Things I've had zero success with is those damn shaving brush plants. They always start turning white and leave only a stump.
Maybe that agar plant that ORA offers here is good....
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
LOL...I have never been able to keep a shaving brush plant either
I also have tried the fan blades and a halimeda...NOPE
Of course that was in the DT...so I kinda gave up on SW plants
 
speg

speg

Active Member
I had halimeda that came as a hitch hiker on some caribbean liverock years ago.. it turned white and disappeared.
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
thats a nice looking fuge. I guess I don't understand the large macros though. If they are designed to so suck up unwanteds like nitrate and phosphate how do you get rid of it out of the tank? like with the cheato you cut it back to remove some, with an algae turf scrubber you clean the screen once a week and get rid of half of the macro algae growing on the screen (only clean one side at a time)
So those pretty plant looking things don't really look harvestable. Do they work differently?
 
speg

speg

Active Member
He's got chaeto in this one as well as the longer stuff. I believe that stuff grows from the root system kind of st. augustine grass. They can just completely remove a few of those at that point.
 
aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
The tall wavy grass stuff is Caulerpa prolifera. It isn't the fastest growing Caulerpa (compared to Taxifolia or Racemosa) but is still light years faster then calcareous (calcium based) algae. C. prolifera has a very limited root structure, doesn't need much sandbed, and can grow on rocks.
In that particular video, the point was hit earlier, the cheato is probably doing most of the nutrient export, while the C. prolifera helps with the anesthetics.
 
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