Building new refugium what kinds of Macro should I get?

[Luckyduck]

I have always loved refugiums! I have had my small CPR fuge for over a dozen years. It's the old style with piping for the outlet. So currently I have a 15 gallon column reef tank with the small (13") CPR hang on back fuge. I have a 5 watt LED red/blue grow light over it. I used Brightwell Aquatics Koral Lagoon Substrat and have a small Red Dragons Breath a nice sized ball of Cheato and 2 Mangroves.
However next week I'm tearing down and transferring my reef into a 20 gallon cube aquarium. I also bought a medium (19") CPR 2 fuge to accompany it. Why no right?! Lol
I also upgraded the light to a 9 watt Chaeto Max LED. I wanted to try out different substrate in it as the Koral Lagoon Substrat even though for refugiums it is coarse crushed coral. I have reached out to Brightwell because I want to try out their Mangrove Substrat but you can't find it anywhere! The sales rep said he was going to try and send me a freebie to test out. I did order some refugium mud though so I always have that. The new fuge will have 8 extra inches of room in it (it's 3.5 gallons) compared to my small one I have now. I definitely have more room for more Macro specimines. I was looking for some ideas from you guys. What do ya think?

 

[ichthyogeek]

Yes. To all the macros.

It depends on what you like. Check out live-plants.com and algaebarn to see what’s commonly available. I got some really, really nice hypnea from GCE the other day, and it was almost love at first sight. C. prolifera however has had my heart since I got my first few blades though. It also depends on what you’re trying to suck out from the tank tho. Ulva is....surprisingly good at reducing microalgae formation when added in mass to a tank. As in, in conjunction with margarita snails, you may never have to clean the glass again. I’m also a fan of red ogo as well, along with botryocladia.

 

[Luckyduck]

Yes. To all the macros.

It depends on what you like. Check out live-plants.com and algaebarn to see what’s commonly available. I got some really, really nice hypnea from GCE the other day, and it was almost love at first sight. C. prolifera however has had my heart since I got my first few blades though. It also depends on what you’re trying to suck out from the tank tho. Ulva is....surprisingly good at reducing microalgae formation when added in mass to a tank. As in, in conjunction with margarita snails, you may never have to clean the glass again. I’m also a fan of red ogo as well, along with botryocladia.

Awesome response man! I'll definitely take a look at all that stuff. I would love to have something that keeps down on microalgae as well although I don't have too much of an issue with it it would still be nice to take a proactive approach.

 

[Luckyduck]

Yes. To all the macros.

It depends on what you like. Check out live-plants.com and algaebarn to see what’s commonly available. I got some really, really nice hypnea from GCE the other day, and it was almost love at first sight. C. prolifera however has had my heart since I got my first few blades though. It also depends on what you’re trying to suck out from the tank tho. Ulva is....surprisingly good at reducing microalgae formation when added in mass to a tank. As in, in conjunction with margarita snails, you may never have to clean the glass again. I’m also a fan of red ogo as well, along with botryocladia.

Whats GCE?

 

[ichthyogeek]

GCE = Gulf Coast Ecosystems = live-plants.com

 

[ThePurple12]

If you're trying to reduce nutrients, the best option would be something fast-growing, preferably chaeto because it can utilize the entire water column and not just substrate.

If you want something decorative, I'd recommend Gracilaria hayi or hypnea.

 

[Luckyduck]

If you're trying to reduce nutrients, the best option would be something fast-growing, preferably chaeto because it can utilize the entire water column and not just substrate.

If you want something decorative, I'd recommend Gracilaria hayi or hypnea.

Lol I already have Chaeto. I'll definitely check out the Gracilaira. Cool lookin stuff. I also want to be careful with any of the spawning aglaes as I don't want it in my main tank. Hypnea is cool lookin stuff too.

 

[Brokereefer603]

Lol I already have Chaeto. I'll definitely check out the Gracilaira. Cool lookin stuff. I also want to be careful with any of the spawning aglaes as I don't want it in my main tank. Hypnea is cool lookin stuff too.

I'm a firm believer that different macro algaes will achieve best results. This is just my opinion. If you want hypnea its going to be difficult to get best results using that light that is more in the red color spectrum. Just my experience. But in that hang on refugium I had great results with gracilarias (green) and lettuce. If you want to venture out to the reds and blues of macro algaes I would use that light you have but also supplement it with a 6500k. Greens up higher to the light and reds and blues toward the bottom. Again just my experience. Once more macros in there I would also add a koralia nano for some more flow which you will need

 

[Luckyduck]

I'm a firm believer that different macro algaes will achieve best results. This is just my opinion. If you want hypnea its going to be difficult to get best results using that light that is more in the red color spectrum. Just my experience. But in that hang on refugium I had great results with gracilarias (green) and lettuce. If you want to venture out to the reds and blues of macro algaes I would use that light you have but also supplement it with a 6500k. Greens up higher to the light and reds and blues toward the bottom. Again just my experience. Once more macros in there I would also add a koralia nano for some more flow which you will need

Well that's what I was looking for is peoples experiences so thanks! I plan on having a nice mix not just one or two. I'll check those species out. At this point I've done a bit of research. I really like the R. Phoenix on Live-plants.com but theyre currently sold out. I've been thinking about the Ulva, Gracilarius, Mexican Caulerpa and maybe a shaving brush and some Dgraons tounge. As I said I already have Chaeto and Dragons breath. I want to be cautious with the Caulerpa because I know it can spawn and I don't want ANY in my main display. Don't have room for a Tang to eat it and I don't want it running wild. I have 200 GPH flowing thru the fuge but I agree, it's not enough flow in there. I actually do have a little pump running in there that I forgot to mention. Other than that we'll see how the Chaeto Max treats everything and if I have to add more light I'll grab something small with a 6500k spectrum. Thanks for the info my friend!

 

[Brokereefer603]

R phoenix is a very attractive plant. You will definitely want to up the flow in there if you want to add the Phoenix only because hair alagae can collect in between the leaves easily. It grows painfully slow lol.. i got 3 plants from live plants I now have 5 but it took almost a year. When I first got them it collected hair algae I moved it to a spot that has about 500gph and its doing much much better. Dragons tongue is a super fast grower. Uber fantastic at removing phosphate. The dragons tongue likes more of a blue spectrum and lower light. Good luck with everything and if you have any questions I'm here to help.