What is the minimum time to run refugium lighting?

[DebFerreira]

Hello, i have a forty gallon breeder and a HOB refugium with chaeto. I am running a Tunze light 8 hours a night in the refug. I have 4 enormous trochus snails, one of which is living in the refugium. They are keeping the place so clean that I am worried that they will eventually starve. Unlike the army of cerith snails, they will not eat the dried nori that I put in the display tank for the fish. I would like to encourage more algae growth in my display tank while still maintaining the nutrient export from the refugium. Is 6 hours good? Other ideas?

 

[sgdnycct]

Wow that’s a good problem to have. What kind of lights are you running? What’s your phos ? You could increase the white spectrum on your lighting in the DT or feed more. Increase the nutrients.

 

[DebFerreira]

I know! Who complains about too little algae growth?! I have two AI primes with the white light set at 32. The Phosphate is 0.04 (I just checked it)

 

[Subsea]

What kind of fish in your display are you wanting to feed algae to? If that algae is coming from your HOB, then that is “nutrient recycling” not nutrient export.

Consider growing some ornamental macro algae in your display. Also, why is it necessary to keep sides of HOB refugium clean with Trochus snail? For nutrient export in HOB, you must prune and discard. It’s a question of balance. If you want more nutrient export, run lights longer and prune more seaweed.

Also, refugiums are a refuge from predators, they do not require lights, just use reef rubble and pods.

AquaClear 110 as a high flow cryptic refugium.

 

[DebFerreira]

Hi Subsea, I think you missed the heart of my question. The algae that I want to encourage in my DT is the green hair type that my enormous trochus snails consume. I do not put any of the chaeto from the refuge into the DT. Excess chaeto is periodically discarded from the refuge for nutrient export. It is not necessary to clean the sides of the refuge, its just another place to put a trochus since they are so large and the DT is really quite clean.

 

[RobertK]

Sounds like you have too many trochus snails. Why not just give one or two of them away?

 

[RedneckAquaman]

If you would like to increase algae growth in the display just increase your photo period. You shouldn't increase you DT lighting by more than 10%.
You can also feed slightly more but this will also increase phosphates more. A little extra phosphates will aid additional algae growth. Just want to be sure to monitor the effects on any of your coral (if you have coral).

In my opinion 6-7 hours of lighting on your refugium is about as low as you want to go while still being able to support your algae growth for nutrient export. You should monitor this closely for the health of your algae. Most likely the algae furthest away from you light source would begin to decay first if it is not getting enough lighting.

 

[mfinn]

Hello, i have a forty gallon breeder and a HOB refugium with chaeto. I am running a Tunze light 8 hours a night in the refug. I have 4 enormous trochus snails, one of which is living in the refugium. They are keeping the place so clean that I am worried that they will eventually starve. Unlike the army of cerith snails, they will not eat the dried nori that I put in the display tank for the fish. I would like to encourage more algae growth in my display tank while still maintaining the nutrient export from the refugium. Is 6 hours good? Other ideas?

I seriously doubt anyone has a set schedule they could recommend, other than just guessing. This would be more of experimenting on your part with a 50/50 chance of failure.
My guess is cut back at least 50% and see if excess algae grows, increase the light period from there.

 

[Jamie9]

Following this as I’m also setting up a small refugium on my 40 AIO…got a ball of chaeto on order from Algaebarn. I was planning on starting with 10 hours of refugium lighting and seeing what that does to my nutrient levels. I bet I’ll be in a similar boat to you where I may be wanting to dial it down while keeping the macro healthy.

 

[DarthRaiderBob]

I'd say at least one second would be the minimum time otherwise it's just off.

 

[sgdnycct]

So if I have this right you are trying to keep your giant trochas fed while keeping your macro algae healthy for nutrient exporter.

I’d start with increasing the bioload. Seems your CUC is off balance. Increase feeding and/or add livestock.

As far as the fuge I’d go with nature as a starter. Say 8 hour minimum and see how it does. Then as you increase bioload you can adjust the photo period to maintain balance as needed.

Sounds like your tank overall is doing great which is awesome. Personally I’d add livestock and definitely feed more. Rarely do critters in reefs get enough food since most species graze constantly. Better to increase frequency if possible.