My very homemade refugium

[mattybecks]

I had an old cylindrical acrylic aquarium that I wasn't using (I had used it before as a sump), and some extra eqipement from old tanks. (two extra pumps, air pump). So I decided to see what else I had lying around/gathering from outside and create a cheap DIY refugium.

Refugium has:

- 4 -5m of shade netting
- some rocks (used to keep the shade netting above the pumps, so the base of refugium is clear and has wicked fast flow, it also keeps the flow a bit more reasonable above the shade netting where the algae is)
- 1 x air pump (the valve is built into the bottom of the cylindrical tank, so I have alot of bubbles being swirled around below the netting)
- 1 x 1500lph return pump (below shade netting)
- 1 x 2000lph circulation pump (below the shade netting)
- 200 Watt outside LED light.

So that's it. It doesnt look the greatest, but it is performing really well and didn't cost me anything extra to set up. Instead of equipment just sitting around, now I have extra filtration.

I added some Gracilaria (at least that is what I think it is) that I collected from the beach (ocean is 33 degress C now, very warm so it is all a little bleached this time of year), and the water I used to fill it I also gathered from the ocean (salinity of the ocean here in 37ppt).

 

[mattybecks]

2 weeks later the growth was phenomenal. The Gracilaria grew like wild fire.
This is what I had to harvest and threw away.
It seems there is more than one type of macro, I guess all species of Gracilaria?

 

[mattybecks]

I removed a little macro yesterday, and this is how it currently is.

 

[mattybecks]

Like I said does not look pretty at all, but is functioning well, and has quite a few pods and crabs that must have hitch hiked in.

 

[mattybecks]

This is the aquarium it filters

 

[WheatToast]

This is the aquarium it filters

Wow! That is a fantastic looking FOWLR (love the focus on blue, white, and silver)! Do you have plans on adding any other livestock? Personally, I always though Sergeant majors (Abudefduf sp.) and Archerfish (Toxotes sp.) fit in well with Monos and Scats.

 

[mattybecks]

Wow! That is a fantastic looking FOWLR (love the focus on blue, white, and silver)! Do you have plans on adding any other livestock? Personally, I always though Sergeant majors (Abudefduf sp.) and Archerfish (Toxotes sp.) fit in well with Monos and Scats.

Thank you! I wanted to keep it kind of simple like this and I love silvery, schooling fish. There are very active, and very personable fish.
I would absolutely love to keep a group of the sergeant majors, but that will have to wait for when I upgrade this system to a bigger one and if I am even able to find them here (I havent seen them in any of the LFS).

Archers and greenspot puffers I have thought about too, but for now I dont want to over crowd the system as everything is stable and balanced.

 

[mattybecks]

As of yesterday

 

[WheatToast]

I am also curious to know what other macroalgae species live around your local beach and if you are considering adding them to the refugium.

 

[mattybecks]

I am also curious to know what other macroalgae species live around your local beach and if you are considering adding them to the refugium.

There are quite a few different types. I dont know much about macros, but from what I can see there is:

- Brown scroll algae (quite common)
- Alot of Caulerpa (different types of it)
- The Gracilerias I showed you a few posts up
- Green algae (hair algae, what looks like sea lettuce)

And some other types I am not sure about.

There is alot of seagrass. fairly close to the shore.

If you guys are interested, I found this a very interesting David Attenborough documentary on the marine environment of the Persian Gulf.
On one side of Arabia you have the Red Sea, which is well known for its corals and fish. The other the eastern side is less well known, very different, but no less biodiverse.

 

[mattybecks]

Feeding some of the macro to the scats

 

[WheatToast]

If you guys are interested, I found this a very interesting David Attenborough documentary on the marine environment of the Persian Gulf.
On one side of Arabia you have the Red Sea, which is well known for its corals and fish. The other the eastern side is less well known, very different, but no less biodiverse.

Hey! I remember seeing this documentary years ago! Thank you for reintroducing it to me!

- Green algae (what looks like sea lettuce)

I have heard that Sea lettuce is a great herbivore snack (and a fantastic nutrient sponge). My Sea lettuce additionally attracts great numbers of (live) Mysid shrimp.

Also, any updates?

 

[mattybecks]

Hey! I remember seeing this documentary years ago! Thank you for reintroducing it to me!

I have heard that Sea lettuce is a great herbivore snack (and a fantastic nutrient sponge). My Sea lettuce additionally attracts great numbers of (live) Mysid shrimp.

Also, any updates?

The scats literally eat all kinds of anything haha. They are probably the best algae eaters I have ever kept. Better than mollies or the lawnmower blennys I have had, constantly grazing off the glass and rocks.

No real updates to comment on, everything is ticking along nicely as before