Finally doing something with that refugium chamber...

[danieyella]

Hey all! So I've had this fuge chamber in my sump for the 90 that I have 100% ignored for the last year. When I first got the new sump I tried to transfer my chaeto over from the old one and quickly realized the flow in this chamber leaves much to be desired. Soooo, it sat, empty, and eventually became covered in coralline algae.

In August I was "gifted" some mangrove pods, and figured *lets see* well --- they're all leafy now with roots headed to nowhere, so I feel obligated to make some changes.

I was able to scrape all of the coralline off the front, I didn't bother with the sides. I moved my carbon reactor to the side so I have a better view (I got this one for the sake of creating some flow in the chamber without overdoing it).

I discovered that the xenia I thought melted away at one point in my tank did not, and is in fact growing in one of the drains into this chamber, I'll need to handle that soon still.

I added some miracle mud, so that it's about an inch thick. To do that, I turned off the return, skimmer, and carbon reactor for about 2.5 hours. It settled beautifully and the display stayed clear the entire time.

I dug out my old red light, I'll set that up this evening.

Next I'll move some cuc down there to help maintain the area and order some macros? I don't think chaeto will do well, there's still not a lot of flow. Any recommendations? It's in a cabinet so not super visible, but I'd still like it to look somewhat presentable for a change.

 

[lapin]

You could try ulva. It floats and likes light

 

[danieyella]

You could try ulva. It floats and likes light

Excellent suggestion, I'll look into that one - plus I believe I can feed it to the display critters instead of just nori all the time?

 

[Alchameth]

I had a Eshopps aquafuge sump in my 90G, thing only had 3 little 1 inch slits for flow. Didn't have any issues growing chaeto in there, I had to rip about half out every 4-6 weeks. Started with 5 mangrove pods too, 3 rooted and 2 actually sprouted in with the chaeto.

 

[danieyella]

I had a Eshopps aquafuge sump in my 90G, thing only had 3 little 1 inch slits for flow. Didn't have any issues growing chaeto in there, I had to rip about half out every 4-6 weeks. Started with 5 mangrove pods too, 3 rooted and 2 actually sprouted in with the chaeto.

Maybe it was just the change from the old sump to this sump was too stressful for it when I tried to move it? I assumed it was flow because it wasn't moving at all... Hmm, now I'm curious

 

[najer]

How is the fuge section laid out that the flow is low?

 

[danieyella]

How is the fuge section laid out that the flow is low?

Similar to what alchameth described. It's an eshopps front & center, just 3 slits into the chamber

 

[najer]

Not sure then, I love caulerpa but it needs flow to flourish.

 

[danieyella]

Not sure then, I love caulerpa but it needs flow to flourish.

I set up my carbon reactor in that chamber to help create some flow since that point. Because I felt like it was just stagnant before.

 

[Alchameth]

Similar to what alchameth described. It's an eshopps front & center, just 3 slits into the chamber

I did have flow issues once, and it was the black mesh at the overflow into the return chamber was clogged up. Cleaned it real good and flow picked right up.

 

[danieyella]

I did have flow issues once, and it was the black mesh at the overflow into the return chamber was clogged up. Cleaned it real good and flow picked right up.

That stiff foam/mesh stuff? I try to remove and clean that monthly. It is very full of pineapple sponges though so it's difficult. I'm sure that contributes. If I take the carbon reactor out the surface of that chamber stays still. I know it's flowing, but not very strong.

 

[Alchameth]

That stiff foam/mesh stuff? I try to remove and clean that monthly. It is very full of pineapple sponges though so it's difficult. I'm sure that contributes. If I take the carbon reactor out the surface of that chamber stays still. I know it's flowing, but not very strong.

I always looked to the inlet to gauge the flow. You could pull it out and see the flow without the sponge. Not sure what you mean about your reactor, not sure how that'd have any impact on the fuge chamber

 

[danieyella]

I always looked to the inlet to gauge the flow. You could pull it out and see the flow without the sponge. Not sure what you mean about your reactor, not sure how that'd have any impact on the fuge chamber

My carbon reactor is an internal hang on, so it's literally inside the sump pulling water and returning water. I placed it in my fuge chamber. My cabinet doesn't have a lot of extra ground space so I had to get creative and with a mix of leathers the carbon helps keep everyone else happy.

 

[danieyella]

Had a little bit of die off when I first put the macros in - I need to trim it off one of them still. I crammed it full to see what looks happiest. Some growth on a few of them already, which surprised me. No noticable difference in nutrient levels yet but they're really just starting to seem settled in. We'll see what Sundays tests tell me.

I never cleaned all the coralline off the sides/back and I desperately need to wipe the water spots off the outside front. Oops.
This light is powerful and gave me some film on the front as well.

 

[danieyella]

1 week progress from last photo,