refugium algae

what type of algae should i put in my refugium??? i want something that will be easy to grow and my tangs will eat.also i am thinking of going with fine sand.....any suggestions????

 

Try some red gracillia aka tang heaven. Slower growing but I believe it is preferd by tangs 2 to 1 over the other types. Care to see my poll?

Jim

 

Try

Perhaps try several? As with any ecosystem, diversity is a good thing?;D

 

look here http://www.3reef.com/forums/refugium/whats-your-refugium-33890.html

 

still unsure what to use alot of folks on here have diffrent algaes,also should i use sand or mud???? will algae grow with sand? i'm new to the fuge thing running a wet dry for a while but everyone tells me fuge is theee way to go! please give some input!;D

 

Mud is wet sand lol, Manny its your choice. Look at your options.
1. Live sand vs MUD. I can't see any advantage of one over the other. They both provide a place for bacteria and will host a variety of organisms. Small stars, pods, etc, etc..
2.) Caulerpa, gracillia, chaeto... They all have there ups or downs. Some Caulerpa will put spores in the water making it cloudy. Most all Caulerpa puts a substance in the water which will inhibit the growth of competing types of algae. Gracillia is nice if you have tangs. But it grows SLOW. Chaetomorpha is good also. No spores just brillo pad algae.
Go with your instinct and then design the refugium. Have fun, You can always change it later. It will just be a pain in the derrier.

Jim

 

My vote is for Chaeto. Though you shouldn't feed your fuge algae back to you fish. It is meant as a way of nutrient export and if you feed the algae back to the fish your just reintroducing the waste. Plus Tangs really don't like eating Caulerpa to begin with.

 

If you use Caulerpa, make sure you leave the lights on 24/7 as to not have a bloom in your main tank. It will grow in sand. Sand is alot cheaper than the mud. I use sand with no problems!