My Skimmer Less 240 W/Xenia Fuge

[Troy V]

I made this video 3 years ago. Now the entire tank is filled with Xenia.

 

[ErikB76]

What kind of benefit do you see having the Xenia take over your Fuge like that? What do you do for nutrient export?

 

[stunreefer]

Awesome! Have you ever had it crash, or wither even temporarily?

What kind of benefit do you see having the Xenia take over your Fuge like that?

Nutrient export.

What do you do for nutrient export?

Xenia

In coastal countries where Xenia grows naturally they have to remove it by the truckload from sewer run offs as it clogs them up over time.

 

[Troy V]

I have 2 refugiums, this one that is entirely Xenia, and the other I allow different types of macro algae to grow, and consume nitrates and whatever else it needs to survive until it diminishes and another macro takes its place. This how I've learned to keep nuisance algae from becoming a plague.

I have found Xenia to be a fantastic nutrient export so long as you harvest it from your system regularly. I remove 5-10 stalks a week to the LFS.

 

[Troy V]

Stunreefer you beat me to it! I remember reading about this in Eric Borneman.

 

[stunreefer]

I remember reading about this in Eric Borneman.

Good 'ole E.B., man. Wish he was still around

 

[Reefing Madness]

With a clam that size why would you need all that Xenia. WOW

 

[Troy V]

Awesome! Have you ever had it crash, or wither even temporarily?

I came close years ago but now I understand the balance.

I've been using Xenia as my primary filtration for over 10 years. However for the first few years I used a skimmer along with the fuge, and I found that they would compete with each other. When the Xenia fuge is healthy I would get very little skimmate. So because it was a beckett skimmer I would manually raise the water level in the skimmer to increase skimmate production, and this would leave the Xenia looking lethargic, and if I didn't reduce the skimmers output I am sure it would eventually kill my fuge.

 

[Troy V]

With a clam that size why would you need all that Xenia. WOW

Your right! I am sure a 70+lb clam does its fair share of the clean up duties...

 

[Brett Stricker]

It really does take over

I made this video 3 years ago. Now the entire tank is filled with Xenia.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Did the Xenia make it’s way from your sump to display tank or did you purposely introduce it?

 

[Troy V]

The system on the video the Xenia had 1 separate plumbed tank, and 2 chambers before it would find it's way to the return pump then the DT. I don't remember it ever entering the DT. However on my current system there is only one baffle between the Xenia fuge and the return pump. So it has been released into the DT. Now I just control the growth.

You can see it growing on the rightside under the Maxima clam.