Refugium algae

i have a 40 breeder used for a sump. I divided in 3. Left is skimmer middle is return and the refugium is on the right side. I have been running it for 3-4 months now. I have notice there alot of hairy greenish algae on my grass.. And very brownish on my sand. Is this normal? Thanks.. I will try get some pics later.

 

It is normal for a fuge to be high in nutrients. Are you running anything in the fuge? Like chaeto?

 

I have chaeto and mangrove

 

Yes the algae growth is normal in the fuge. You can clean it out if you want. Do it with your pumps off though if you do, and use a filter sock or some filter floss for a couple days after cleaning it to catch anything floating. Don't want it getting into your DT

 

Will it be more beneficial if I leave it along?

 

The brown stuff is probably diatoms. Is it a new tank?

 

4+ months

 

I would leave it alone, if it starts growing out of control then havest some and let it keep growing.... as long as it's in the fuge growing and not in the main tank it's doing what it's designed to do

 

+1 My fuge looks like a swamp, and the DT stays pristine. I do harvest the macros every couple of weeks, and the fact that they grow back rather quickly tells me the fuge is doing its job. I keep an emerald crab, a few snails and a huge population of pods in the fuge too, along with a few pieces of LR. There's also some occasional cyano blooms down there, and I clean that out as I see it, but never any in the DT. Also, I have my skimmer in a sump after the fuge, and it seems to work extremely well. I think some put the skimmer before the fuge.