What is going on in my Fuge?!!

[NanaReefer]

20L sump. Fuge area is 13x12x8" Run a so k & skimmer 65g (rated) Fuge light is a UtiliTech 15w Par38 5k LED.
40B DT 2 Fish, assorted corals, snails & crabs.
I feed very lightly 2-3x daily. Reef Frenzy and ON Flakes.

 

[Finnaddict]

Whats wrong with it? Looks like a normal fuge to me.

 

[CastAway]

A little cyano, but looks good.

 

[NanaReefer]

It's full of nastiness!! Lol All over the glass. There's cyano, and brown stuff and HA I think. Is my light strong enough ya think?

 

[CastAway]

Refugiums are for the nastiness, right? Just asking, but aren't those things, cyano, diatoms & hair algae, all more a product of nutrients than light? Have you have any changes in NO3 or PO4? Could the Utilitech LED output have changed, over time?

 

[NanaReefer]

Well the setup is just 16wks old. So I'm sure the light hasn't waned much, if any. Filter sock/skimmer come before fuge. Sock being changed weekly. Very small bio-load.
My DT is algae free. No3=0 and PO4=0.02

I'm dying to clean it out but don't wanna mess up my DT parameters in any way

 

[erk]

If you are only at 16 wks, it's just going through growing pains. Mine is about 7 months now and the nastiness has finally died down. Now I just have enormous amounts of red fuzzy algae, chaeto, and caulerpa growing everywhere along with sponges and God knows what else. Just give it time. I use a 6500K screw in CFL from Walmart and I've started doing a reverse light cycle to help stabilize pH and temp.

 

[mfinn]

A couple things,
I don't use sand in my refugiums. IMO it helps trap detritus. Some do and some don't. Both sides will swear by it.
Did you put a powerhead in your refugium? I put one in mine years ago and I have never had cyno since. ( would get it once in a while ).
My chaeto really grows if the current in the refugium moves it around.
I would cut back on feeding, to 1-2 times a day.

I'd clean it out.

 

[NanaReefer]

I had a Koralia 240gph power head in there for a bit...but seemed a bit much so I took it out.
Seems I have great flow but it just flows over the surface, not circulating deeper.

I'm gonna clean it out. Thinking of maybe removing the sand. I don't know-lol.

 

[mfinn]

I remember a few years back that people were saying that chaeto grows better when there is enough current in the refugium to make it roll like a ball.
So I put a Tunze 6045 in my refugium and removed all but a little less than a soccer ball sized mass of chaeto and got it to roll. That only lasted a few days because it grew so fast.
But I left the powerhead in and now the only thing that grows in there is the chaeto.

 

[NanaReefer]

Ok, so I'll put the power head back in Try an get it placed so that it causes more turbulence in the fuge.

 

[NanaReefer]

Ok, so I'll put the power head back in Try an get it placed so that it causes more turbulence in the fuge.

Put the power head back in. Pointed at the incoming flow, mid level. Sound ok?

 

[jgraz]

I'd like to add as long as it's frowning in the fuge and not the DT then mission accomplished. In my last tank I had all kinds of stuff growing in the fuge. One day I decided to clean it out. A week later it was in my DT.

 

[NanaReefer]

I'd like to add as long as it's frowning in the fuge and not the DT then mission accomplished. In my last tank I had all kinds of stuff growing in the fuge. One day I decided to clean it out. A week later it was in my DT.

That is what I'm afraid of if I clean it out. Maybe my new fuge lamp, the Reef Radiance DM-5e will help

 

[mfinn]

IMO, if it is in the refugium, it can get into the display tank since they are connected. IMO, cleaning it out with the return pump off would be better that hoping it will go away on it's own.

 

[Reef Junky150]

It's full of nastiness!! Lol All over the glass. There's cyano, and brown stuff and HA I think. Is my light strong enough ya think?

I have all kinds of nasty in my sump/fuge. It's their instead of your dt. [emoji106]