About to shut down my refugium

[bobnicaragua]

Hair algae has overgrown my refugium and is growing all throughout my cheato. I’m tired of having to rip it out all the time.

I’ve had snails down there in the past, but they wind up caught in my skimmer or return pumps.

 

[Rp8]

If you have the ability, move the skimmer to a different chamber. The refugium is suppose to grow all the bad stuff down there and not in your tank. But, if you don’t want it to grow lessen your grow light time or remove it all together. At least that’s how run mine.

 

[CrewePD210]

Mine does the same thing, and I have that exact same light. Maybe that is what is causing it.

 

[exnisstech]

I've never found a chaeto fuge to do anything as far as reducing nutrients in my tanks. They are a great place for pods and such but I get similar life forms in a cryptic fuge without the hassle of algae. I added a scrubber to my 330g and get the best of both worlds.

And I have a continuous supply of tang food so i no longer have to buy nori.

PS. When I did run chaeto I had great success using cheap grow light bulbs in a hanging light. I also had very good luck with these cheap LED grow lights. I never had trouble with other algae growing in with the chaeto.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I removed mine and never looked back. It was a separate 30 gallon tank that emptied into the display. Was a paint to maintain.

 

[bobnicaragua]

Mine does the same thing, and I have that exact same light. Maybe that is what is causing it.

I’ve run this fuge off and on for 5 years with the same light. The chamber has always been completely full of cheato with no issues.

It started dying off 5 or 6 months ago. I’m not sure if this caused the issue, but I dosed fenbendazole to kill blue clove polyps around that time. It wiped out a lot of my microfauna. The cheato started deteriorating not long after that.

 

[JTP424]

I've never found a chaeto fuge to do anything as far as reducing nutrients in my tanks. They are a great place for pods and such but I get similar life forms in a cryptic fuge without the hassle of algae. I added a scrubber to my 330g and get the best of both worlds.

And I have a continuous supply of tang food so i no longer have to buy nori.

PS. When I did run chaeto I had great success using cheap grow light bulbs in a hanging light. I also had very good luck with these cheap LED grow lights. I never had trouble with other algae growing in with the chaeto.

Do you have a breakdown of how you made your skimmer?

 

[DylanE]

I’ve found my chaeto goes through periods of waxing and waning. I started it with a softball sized clump about 10 years ago and it’s been growing and shrinking in various tanks since. It’ll go through months where it looks like yours and I think it’s going to dissolve away, and periods where it looks awesome. Currently an awesome period, which is nice. I’ve never noticed fish or coral acting differently during these periods. I’m chalking it up to another mystery of reef keeping.

 

[exnisstech]

Do you have a breakdown of how you made your skimmer?

It's a Santa Monica surf 4+. It's grossly over priced for what it is IMO but I don't have the skill or knowledge to design one so I have no regrets. I had planned on a cryptic fuge so I needed a scrubber without a lot of light spill. The fact that it floats is a bonus because it leaves more room for rock. No disassembly to clean, just lift the lid and pull the algae out. That 1/2 lb container of algae shown was 6 days growth.