... with my Macros!
I have stocked my refugium with Red Ogo (GRACILARIA PARVISPORA) - both for nutrient export as well as to provide a staple food source for my Tangs (who can't seem to get enough of it). I stocked my 'huge with about 0.5 pounds from Algae Barn, and each day I take out a small piece and put it in an algae clip for my Tangs. My thinking was that if I started with a large enough biomass of Ogo in my refugium, I would get close to the point where the growth rate would make up for how much I took out daily to feed my fish (kinda).
Anyway, after a couple of weeks the Ogo doesn't look as healthy as it did when I first added it. There are areas where the algae looks pale, and other areas where it has turned slightly green.
I was wondering if this is either due to insufficient nutrients, or improper lightin? Or is this normal? See photos below. (NOTE - in the attached photos I am referring to the off-colored filaments in the "fronds" [if that's the right word] ... and not the white segments that make up the rhizome, which are normally white)
Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.
I light the refugium with a Kessil AW360 about 6" from the water surface at 50% illumination (power) for 12 hours a day on a reverse photo cycle.
I do my best to "turn" the Ogo over in my sump once a day (when I remember) to try and get more even illumination.
Using my Hanna checkers I have relatively low levels of both Nitrate (2.3 ppm) and Phosphate (0 ppm).
I have stocked my refugium with Red Ogo (GRACILARIA PARVISPORA) - both for nutrient export as well as to provide a staple food source for my Tangs (who can't seem to get enough of it). I stocked my 'huge with about 0.5 pounds from Algae Barn, and each day I take out a small piece and put it in an algae clip for my Tangs. My thinking was that if I started with a large enough biomass of Ogo in my refugium, I would get close to the point where the growth rate would make up for how much I took out daily to feed my fish (kinda).
Anyway, after a couple of weeks the Ogo doesn't look as healthy as it did when I first added it. There are areas where the algae looks pale, and other areas where it has turned slightly green.
I was wondering if this is either due to insufficient nutrients, or improper lightin? Or is this normal? See photos below. (NOTE - in the attached photos I am referring to the off-colored filaments in the "fronds" [if that's the right word] ... and not the white segments that make up the rhizome, which are normally white)
Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.
I light the refugium with a Kessil AW360 about 6" from the water surface at 50% illumination (power) for 12 hours a day on a reverse photo cycle.
I do my best to "turn" the Ogo over in my sump once a day (when I remember) to try and get more even illumination.
Using my Hanna checkers I have relatively low levels of both Nitrate (2.3 ppm) and Phosphate (0 ppm).
