Yes, it's a black paper like material that is stuck to the glass; so, you can go that route if you want. I'm actually going to post an update of my tank soon. I just removed a lot of dead material from the fuge area today. I completely removed the fuge all together, i'm testing a different route to see if it actually was doing anything. I may introduce a small algae reactor in the future.
Awesome! I havent looked into algae reactors much but do they do a similar thing to refugiums?
They are actually more efficient and work better than a refugium in many ways. They force the water through the algae providing longer contact with it, the export of nitrate and phosphate is much higher than with a traditional refugium. However, they aren't as good of a home for beneficial micro fauna, like a fuge.
No real complaints, the stock tank definitely needs mods. I really enjoy it the way I have it setup. Don't skimp on a skimmer.
