Refugium Dilema

[Gneiss Warthog]

I have a 65 gal tank with a good hang on skimmer and just a Penguin Emperor biowheel filter with lots of water circulation. I have a good mix of actintic and metal halides and i know I need something better in the way of filtration because I've been cycled for more than 6 months but no real good growth of coraline algae. I just have lots of nuisance algae. I'm looking to add more filtration. I think I want to go with a refugium with mud and macroalgae. I'm looking at either a hang on EcoSystems 60 or a sump version that fits in my small cabinet below. I've heard good and bad comments about mud but I think a refugium is the way to go with or without mud. Any suggestions?

[CarmieJo]

Hi Gneiss,

Can you tell us a little more? FO? FOWLR? Reef? LR? Substrate? Water parameters?

[gwen_o_lyn]

Maybe get rid of the biowheel?

How about pics of your setup?

[Gneiss Warthog]

Thanks CarmieJo for your response here is some more info about my setup..

I have some shrooms, star, xenia, brain, zoos, branch, and leather corals with almost half the tank full of live rock. I have some sand and aragonite as the substrate (only 1 to 1.5 inches thick) and my parameters are within exceptable ranges with good calcium and alkalinity. I havent test for strontium or manganese etc. but I don't think that I need to supplement yet. I do Kalk with all my topoff water (2.5 gallons with 1/2 cup white vinegar and 1 and 1/2 TBLS of Kalk. I do a 8 hour metal halide and 12 hour actintic lighting.

I want some beutifull purple coraline algae and it won't grow.:madmad:

[Gneiss Warthog]

Here are some pics- I just remembered I had an old light that I put on my Emperor filter ontop of some glass to make a makeshift refugium. I also added a few pieces of live rock. I'm going to see how this setup works, until I can come up with a permanent fix. Any observations on how I'm setup any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[gwen_o_lyn]

Exactly how much flow do you have?

And what are your water parameters? Elaborate on "my parameters are within acceptable ranges."

Explain what kind of filter media is in the Penguin Emperor?

What kind of water do you use?

What is your maintenance routine like?

[Gneiss Warthog]

I have an Aquaclear 110 (900gph) and two ZooMed PowerSweeps PS-10's with 125 gph each. The Aquaclear is probally overkill, and I tried to attach a Hydor Flo to diffuse the flow, but I couldn't get it to attach with the rubber gaskets they provided and even tried to find plumbing to retrofit it on from a hardware store, but no luck.

I have to admit that I have assumed my parameters were "within acceptable ranges" without checking in a few days, and within those few days I've dosed Calcium in the AM in conjunction with my Kalk topoffs thinking that my low Calcium levels were the cause of my lack of Coraline Algae growth. I had a few days last week where some growth occurred following dosing, and I believed more Calcium was better. In doing so My pH has dropped to 7.8 and my Calcium has climbed to 455 with a KH of 8.0. I know I need to find a routine to keep my Calcium above 400 but my ph stable. I kalk but kalking alone doesn't seem to keep calcium high enough. Is a daily Kent Marine Pro buffer and liquid calcium dose ok at prescribed doses?

I took out the carbon filters from my Emperor Refugium and placed some live rock with the biowheels spinning and am going to put in some Cheato with 24 hour flourecent light- should I take out the biowheels?

My water is RODI and I do 10% water changes every week and a half.

If I fix my ph/dKH/Calcium stabilization problems and watch my makeshift refugium over the next few weeks do you think I'll have better luck? or should I put the mechanical carbon filters back into my Emperor and get a bigger refugium right away?

[CarmieJo]

I don't think that there is any correlation between a 'fuge and coralline growth. I would remove the bio-wheel because they are known as nitrate factories. While I don't know that this will make a difference to coralline it is critical for corals, fish are not as sensitive but will be healthier at lower nitrate levels.

I recommend that you not dose without testing for what you are dosing for. :)

[gwen_o_lyn]

Stay away from mechanical filtration and take out the biowheels.

Kalk is to maintain CA levels. I recommend Seachem's Reef Advantage to add CA to your system. Also many people I know swear by a product called Purple Up for coralline growth.

I wouldn't worry so much about coralline growth and just keep your parameters stable. I have very little coralline in my nano and I'm kinda thankful for that. What matters is that everything is healthy and growing.

You may want to do 15% water changes weekly since you are fighting algae.