Just Started A New Refugium

I just set this thing up about 3 or 4 days ago it takes up almost half the space of a 20g sump i bought.

Currently i have one ball of chaeto, a 2 or 3 inch sandbed, and a whole bunch of live rocks covering the sandbed

Is it okay to have the whole sandbed covered up by live rocks or should i just make one or two piles in the corner and leave the rest uncovered?

Can i keep some other type of low light macro algae in there or would it simply die when my chateo ends up growing and covering the whole space?

Is there any types of critters that would be benificial to keep in the fuge?

I plan on keeping lots and lots of copepods in there to feed the main tank would they survive the trip through the Quite One 3600?

I read that people trim and clean there chaeto algae when it gets too big, i dont understand what they mean by cleaning it, do they take out the whole clump and rinse it through some fresh water or is this not even neccaasery?

Thanks,

 

I would put the rocks in the sand and leave room in between for some crabs and snails to sift through it a bit.

Most macro will get choked out by chaeto. You could put a few mangroves in there. They are great for sucking up nitrates and phosfates.

You should have a full CUC in your fuge. A small sand sifting fish is always a good addition.

Some will make it.

To clean my chaeto I just shake it around in the fuge. Gets most the build up off.

 

Thanks for the info,

anybody got any more?

 

You would eventually want to prune the chaeto to export the nutrients from your system.

 

Well my little cheato ball is getting pretty big since i added the 5100k bulb above it.

When should i prune it and how should i go about doing that?

 

Good job, IMO a refugium is the best thing you can add to a reef, for filtration.

 

When it starts getting close to filling the space you have for it just rip some off. Feed it to your fish if you have any herbivores. If not give it away or just throw it away.

 

Thanks i really think its helping out my tank, my corals all seem happy and healthy and the water is just fine.

Thanks for the info on pruning it do i rip out alot or just a little?

 

Prune a small amount regularly, its different for every system because it depends how many nutrients are in your system and how quickly it is growing. As mentioned, let it fill your sump then take out a handful and see how long it takes to re-grow then when its recovered take out another handful. I aim to remove some seaweed every 2-4 weeks.

 

Alrite ill try that in a littlle bit when it over takes the sump

Is there any kind of animals i should be keeping down there also?