What exactly do I put in the fuge?

After I put the DSB what exactly am I supposed to buy/grow? I've heard people mention mangroves, cheato balls, etc. This is all completely new, so I'm at a loss. I will be doing 3 inches of kitty litter with 1 inch sand from my DT. The fuge will be 6x10, but only 8 inches deep. Any advice would be great!

 

Mangroves, cheato or even caulerpa as long as you pay close attention to it. Although I have read you need to have 1 or 2 mangroves per gallon of system water for them to be effective. The mangroves also use massive amount of magnesium to get the water they need. It helps them remove the salt from the water.

 

What is caulepra? Cheato? Does one need more room than the other?

 

I use chaeto. Stuff grows like weeds under a clip on light from lowes. lol. Alot of people have caulepra but thay can sometimes be a pain to deal with if it spreads to your display or releases chemicals. Chaeto is the easiest to deal with IMO and its very easy to grow and does a great job. I bought a tennis ball size about a year ago and have had to trim it dozens of times since then. Nitrates are always zero and I havnt done a water change in a year.

 

Thanks--the more research I do on here, the more I find out are use chaeto. Where do I purchase it?

 

Find a local reefer that has some. Most people just throw out the clippings when they trim it. Im sure somebody is more than willing to give you some. Caulerpa grows fast than chaeto imo. But it can be a problem if it goes sexual or gets in your display.


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you can also get it from live aquaria at ridiculously high prices. Your best bet is to ask your LFS or see if someone on here will send you a tennis ball size and just charge you shipping.

 

i agree with Mr. falcon. someone in the area probably has a fistful of chaeto that they want to give away. heck, i have 5 fistfuls if someone would take them.The caulerpa is definitely more aggressive. it depends on what you are growing it for. if it is just to remove nitrates, i would stick with chaeto. however, i feed my tangs caulerpa from my fuge and they prefer it to the chaeto. If i don't watch it, the caulerpa will choke out the chaeto in one of my refugiums.