So what next for my fuge?

Here is my fuge after a month.





The calerpa is growing 9grape and sawblade(?)). A couple of pods running around. Not a lot. A lot of cyano. I got some live sand to put on top. So I assume I will get some worms going. No bubbles under the sand.

So, what else can I put in? I was going to the LFS tomorrow to get some snails to start sifting the sand. Some nasarius(?). What other types of snails if any?

What else can I add to tend the sand bed and cut down on some of the slime algae. Or will the slime algae go away on it's own as the fuge matures?

I have tons of worms in my DT. Can I put some of those in the fuge, or am I just being impatient.

 

chaetomorpha would be a good pod area.
i would avoid nasarius since they eat primarily meaty foods, there wont be any food for them, besided what blows in there from the dt. turbos or astrea.

 

The LFS even told me I might have to feed a bit of meat. I just like how they turn my sand. I do need some Turbos though. I started feeding my fish more since I don't have any filters. Actually, I thought I was a bit light. So I been meaning to add to my DT janitorial crew as well.

Actually, if they are meat eaters, what do they do in the sand all day?

 

I agree that is one of the advantages of chaeto, but I don't care for it for other reasons. What I have should fill in a bit more.

 

hide, i assume it offers protection. much like a clown stays in its anemone basically all day

 

I would just let it be and light it on Reverse Photo period and simply let the grass grow and allow the bugs to come and take hold and get well established . Then simply reach in and remove and toss algae every so often as needed . I'd not worry about how nasty it looks or the cyano mine looks like a stagnate swamp. But then again thats the way they are supposed to look.

Is that a box filter in the corner , if so why ? And it does look really to clean to serve as a fuge

 

It is on reverse photo for 12 hours. So it sounds like 3-6 month before it is really established.

The original owner put inlet boxes in. I decided to keep them. In my skimmer section it divert flow to my skimmer. In the fuge, the out let is just above the sand line. Figured it would get everything down instead of floating out. also, didn't know what flow would look like, so it is a spot with no sand to get blown. Some detritus does settle out at the bottom of it. I have blown it out once. My flow is very slow.

That's cool about the clean part. I was worried the cyano was chocking out the calerpa. The floor is covered w/ detritus. And the red stuff is on everything.

 

flow the total water volume of the fuge through the fuge per hr.. say its a 20 gal then flow 20 gph give or take .

 

Problem is that I don't know what 15gph looks like. Right now it is just trickling over the 18 inch baffle.

And while we are at it, I'm a bit slow. I never did understand why we wanted such low flow.

Then I figured that the material delivered to the DSB will be broke down to nutrients, and we want the algae to suck up those nutrients BEFORE they get to the DT. Is that right?

Before, I just figured the algae sucked up nutrients from the tank water as a whole as it passed through the fuge.