Refugium too large?

When should initial macroalgae be added to a new tank setup?

 

Wait for more experienced folks.... I had my tank and added the fuge. I would think you could add the macro right off. I would think it would help with initial nitrate and algae bloom problems. But I don't know for sure.

 

It matters not to me but a fuge is kept properly all you want in there is grass no need for rock and animals all you want to grow in these are sand fauna .. And as for sand a DSB is really a must or deep kitty litter for a mud bottom if you do not have a DSB then there is little area for any NNR .. This is why I would never have a DSB in a main tank But I would not have a fuge with out a DSB .
And over the yrs I kind of came up with and found the what I call the 10 10 style or method the fuge is 10% smaller then the tank it is to service and then I run 10% of the volume of the through per Hr . 100 or 90 gal display a 10 gallon fuge with 4 " of sand and I pass 10 GPH through the box O water to filter my water then you will see the skimmer will have less to do and all the solids that fall out will break down and feed the sand fauna/ this is why its called a refugium its a safe refuge area for sand critters well thats what was intended for them when it all started ..

 

dunno if this helps but i took a 40 gal long tank and put in some baffles and the whole right half of the tank is 20gal worth of volume available for the fuge. i intend on having 2" mud 4" sand bed (maybe deeper i dunno yet) and it'll be fed by the overflow straight from the DT which is 75gal.

 

But over that 10 acres of land, you still probably get an acres worth of food. What I was trying to figure out is how big of a sand bed will be beneficial. But I never found anything that said X size will do X amount. I figure I wanted a sand bed and got it. What ever nutrients are available macro will consume. End result is zero nitrates, and it does not matter to me whether the macro ball is the size of a basket ball or a grapefruit.

 

It's really all in how much space do you really need for one. I would want one as small as I could get it so I have room for other things. I know local guys that have 100g fuges running on 200g display tanks. To me that is a big waste of space, but it's not in my house. Tangster showed me how to set up one and I have mine plus about 4 others set up the same way and they do great. I still have the same algae in there I started with 3 years ago plus I have given starter to a bunch of people when I harvest.

Tangsters way is not cast in stone but it is from years of experience in this hobby. He was enjoying tanks long before all the chemical company's started posting literature on how to use their stuff in this hobby. Of course this is while they were holding their hands out for your $$$$$$. Most so called Drs. in this industry usually have a supply company in the back ground paying them to promote their product. Sometimes you have to weed out BS from these people. I like his "Old School" ways, it's a heck of a lot cheaper....

 

Thanks again everybody for the great advice.

 

I can agree with that. No need to waste space.

 

BTW, I posted my same question on RC, just out of curiosity..... The result....MUCH better and more thorough responses on 3Reef. Long live 3reef.