Nitrates at ZERO. From 20 - Here is what I did.

I don't have a separate refugium. I keep my macroalgae in the sump. I call it a sump/refugium. It works great for me.

 

Good post. Hopefully I have the same luck, just bought one of the clip on lights and a 90 watt 6500K CFL floodlight similar to what the dude on melevsreef.com uses. Ordered a clump of chaeto with pods from reefcleaners.org along with some new snails ... hopefully it works out well. Thanks for the idea ALW.

 

I run the light on a timer. When the DT lights are on the sump light is off...and vice-versa

 

Cool - that's what I plan to do as well. I've heard it keeps the pH more stable. Out of curiosity, do you keep any snails or crabs in your sump? I've noticed that even after skimming and passing through a 100 micron sock, I still get some debris in the bottom of my sump over time that I clean out. Wondering if any crabs or snails may help with this.

 

Personally, I do. I have a few blue Legs and a few nefarious snails down there. With no help from me, I also have a heard of pods, a gaggle of feather dusters and a slew of sponge-like animals as well.

Star thingy's and other thingy's too.

 

ALW, I see you changed from the 100 watt version to the 60 watt one. Any reasons why?

 

Maybe you can help me start a refugium. I'm getting a 120 gal tank and I was looking at the Megaflow 4 wet dry at $300 and designed for up to 240 gal. If you go to this web page you can see the layout and let me know if I can do it.
Saltwater To Go - All Glass MegaFlow Model 4 Wet/Dry Sump
This is my other alternative. The RM200 is $360 and the RM300 is $430
Sealife Systems ReefMaster
Cost is not a big issue at this point. Any other Ideas would be great also.

 

Well those are nice and will work I know a couple of people that have them,those are pretty much set and ready to go just add sand cheato and skimmer, if you are more of a dyi kind of person you could build your own.

 

Yep. I could not keep up with the incredible growth rate. Then I started giving away the cheato. I whittled it down to a softball sized piece. I put the 100 watt bulb back in a few days ago and once again I am ready to give away a ton of cheato.

 

Just got my ball of chaeto this week. Running the 100 watt CFL 6500K floodlight on it for about 10 hours overnight. How long does it take you to chaeto to grow?