Decided to grow Cheato to help with hair algae and grow pods for my mandarin. Woke up to...uhh...not sure.

[Lazy8s]

I tried to kill two birds with one stone: grow pods for my mandarin instead of buying them, and grow Cheato to help control the hair algae in the display tank. I got Cheato from the LFS, put it in the refugium with some pods, tossed some phytoplankton in, put a 150watt grow lamp up top on a timer (12hrs opposite of tank lights) and went to sleep.

Overnight I started seeing a lot of micro gas bubbles and thought great, photosynthesis is happening I’m golden. It’s been 6 days and this morning the color is changing. What the heck did I do? Have I accidentally started a phytoplankton culture in my refugium?

Sorry the lighting sucks I can take more photos later. As you can see the reactor chamber is crystal clear water as is the tank. It’s just the refugium.

 

[BeejReef]

It doesn't look so bad. Fuges are kinda nasty in their own good way
There's the beach with the pristine sand and blue water... then there's the bay, with stinking mud and spawning yuckies.
You've added to your ecosystem

Seriously though, looks like a very white light. U may get a little less nuisance growth with something more red/blue.
Also, if it's a little stagnant or smelly, a little more flow through the fuge might help.

 

[Lazy8s]

It doesn't look so bad. Fuges are kinda nasty in their own good way
There's the beach with the pristine sand and blue water... then there's the bay, with stinking mud and spawning yuckies.
You've added to your ecosystem

Seriously though, looks like a very white light. U may get a little less nuisance growth with something more red/blue.
Also, if it's a little stagnant or smelly, a little more flow through the fuge might help.

Ha fair enough. I hadn’t thought of it that way.

Also oops that’s a shop light. The grow light is a waterproof 150W red/blue LED. You can kind of see the black aluminum enclosure in the top-down picture.

I read a little about flow and while it gets some flow I’m adding a very small $10 blower today. Is there any risk it causes issues with the pod growth?

 

[BeejReef]

Ha fair enough. I hadn’t thought of it that way.

Also oops that’s a shop light. The grow light is a waterproof 150W red/blue LED. You can kind of see the black aluminum enclosure in the top-down picture.

I read a little about flow and while it gets some flow I’m adding a very small $10 blower today. Is there any risk it causes issues with the pod growth?

I'm not sure. You'd have to read up on pods. I know there are a few varieties that prefer near stagnant water. U can provide some lower flow habitat with corrugated plastic or rubble rock. Google "pod hotel." DIY is a small piece of plastic and a few drops of superglue.

 

[reefpaddy]

Looks normal to be honest, expect a few weeks of settling in. You have also added a light to this area so expect some additional algae for starters. I dose the Kent Marine Iron and Manganese Plant Supplement about once a month for the Cheato to flourish.

 

[boacvh]

Looks similar to mine. And I have similar eshopps sump, make sure the flow slots underwater coming from the sock compartment aren't blocked. See pic. The chaeto will block them when it grows. Cleaning those will give you enough flow