Macro in Refugium

I have a 11 gal. fuge with live sand and mud.....I have Red Gracillaria and Calupera Prolifera in it. I was hoping the Red Gracillaria would need pruning often and I could feed to my tang and angel. However both seem to be dying. I have about 10 gal/hr flow through the fuge and run reverse lighting with 65 watt power compact bulb (full spectrum) for 8.5 hrs at night. Can anyone help me out on why this may be happening....seems 8.5 hrs should be enough for some if not good growth.....should I lengthen the lighting period?

 

Hmm, how far are the lights off the fuge? It sounds like it should be good to me. Is your water too clean ?

 

Are you adding iodine and iron to your water? This will help to grwo any macroalgae-just be careful as too much can be detrimental!

 

How fast are you flowing the water through the fuge ? and how fast is it flowing the plants need at least 10 hrs of dark to complete their work. Are you using a Reverse Photo period ? Is this a HOB unit ?

 

Hi all....the light is about 12 inches from the sand/mud and 4 inches from the surface of the water. The lights are on for 8.5 hrs and yes it is the reversed lighting method. I am not adding any iron nor iodine, but I feel like the mud should be giving the plants those minerals it needs......kind of why I go the mud to go with the live sand. The flow is about 10 - 12 gals going through it per hour....don't really know what to say other than.....what the heck am I doing wrong?

 

Feeding Tangs, Angels well and frequently

If you ever just want to buy "tang heaven", red gracilaria cheap. Keep in a refugium, holding tank, or even refrigerate, and acquire cheap enough and healthy enough to feed to tangs, angels, etc. as often as you like. Go to:

aquatix.us - Home

Other macro algae and reef items too.

 

May have something eating it. maybe other water parameters that are no exemplairy!
Last thing is the lighting duration may not suffice for the health and growth of the Macro!

 

Lights need to run longer is all your problem is give them 8 hrs to sleep and 16 hrs to uptake nutrients Thats why Plants grow in the summer time more hrs of sun.. And slow the flow through the sump to allow the solids to settle out the will get all the fertilizer they need all that crap about Iodine and iron just causes a mess with other alga's in the main tank. I never does them never needed to either..Bring the fuge lights on about 2 hrs before the main lighting goes off then allow the fuge lamp to run about 2 hrs after the main lights come back on then you will keep a perfectly steady PH with little fluctuating

 

what are your nitrates? The Red Gracillaria is sensitive to high nitrates and poor water quality. It also doesnt like too high phosphates from what I've read about it in the past.

 

Hi

Hi,
I had a CA++ problem that seemed to really stress plants, are measuring ca++ KH and mag
If you have coraline growing then the plants should be fine unless the light isn't bright enough.
is the light being filted by glass that covered with salt spray.
Doug