refugium question

[D.Barta]

I have added a fuge to my tank ,mainly to fight hair algae and produce pods so I can have a mandrin.What should I put in fuge?(135 main tank w
/ 30 gallon fuge,pleneum,4 inch live sand bed).

D.Barta

[D.Barta]

anyone,anyone?

[don-n-sa]

well it doesn't seem like some of the more seasoned/knowledgeable members are answering you so I will give a go:

there are so many choices ahead of you so just pick a few and give a try...that's what I did

first get a cup of live sand from various people from established tanks ( I can give you some of mine if you need some )

then either buy some more live or regular sand from the LFS and fill fuge until you get at least a 3" to 4" sand bed

then you have to decide what kind of macro algae to get...there is a ton of kinds and they have varying degree of effectiveness depending on what you are looking for

I have 4 different kinds of macro in my fuge that I aquired from different people and even some was given to me by the LFS's here in town.

I like diversity but the only problem is that they all grow rapidly and you will have to trim/ harvest frequently and I do not know which one is doing the best.

the last time I cut mine back I basically pulled out the grape caulerpa, razor and prolifera and let the cheeato take over but I didn't like the results ( hair algea came back and some cyno too! )

so expirement to find out which is best for you

oh and you will need to light you fuge with either NO plant grow lights or PC's or even halides (I currently have a NO plant light and everything grows fine) and use a timer to set your lighting the opposite of your display tank

hope this helps...if you need some macro to get you started then pm me I will have some this weekend to trim back

[D.Barta]

I willing to buy some macro algae of anyone to get fuge started!!!

[GaryP]

I have a bunch of Chaetamorpha. You can have some. Drop me a PM.

Gary

[D.Barta]

Gary, thanks for the offer I've had some problems with my computer as far as sending a PM (?).
Anyway, sent you one hope you recivie it.

Thanks
D.Barta

[Ram_Puppy]

Hi D,

you mentioned pod production. I would add a grunge bed to your fuge. You don't have to buy Garf Grunge (where the term was coined i believe www.garf.org) you can simply get liverock rubble from a local store. this gives your pods places to hide and breed. I have even heard of people using natural sponges in this fashion, anything that is inert and porus would probably do great for you.

Do you allready have pods? if not, the most ecenomical way to get them is from a MAAST members tank. once you have them and there isn't a predator, you have them. :)

other goodies to add to your fuge would be grass shrimp, and i have heard of people putting mysis and pepermints in, though I am not sure mysis will provide young consitently if phyto is not being dosed... the grass shrimp will breed provided enough food.

Stay away from caulerpa's, unless your ready to ride herd and run the fuge 24/7 with lights, and heavily thin, not cut the caulerpa. It can go sexual (caulerpa as I understand it, is one big cell, and to reproduce it actually dies, flooding your tank with nutrients and other nastiness that can cause a crash. There are much better algaes like the Chaetamorpha that Gary is offering you.

I am the last person who will disuade you from getting a mandarin, it sounds like you have thought it out, however, give your tank and fuge time to age, and your pod population time to reproduce as your mandarin will stress that population if you put him in too soon.

if you really want to beef your brain up on fuges, buy Anthony Calfo's Reef Invertebrates, it has entire chapters dedicated to it, along with info on multiple types of fuges, (algae, pod, xenia, so on.)

Oh, and there is a great fuge light you can get at home depot. I forget the name of the light, maybe interamerican or something like that? Only at home depot, not in a box, it is in a plastic package, a mini-compact with a built in reflector, 2 of them would be adequate to light a 30 gallon fuge. they are "daylight" bulbs, and will say as much on the package.

have fun.

[D.Barta]

Thanks for the advice Mr. Ram Puppy! I've had my fuge running for acouple of weeks ofcourse it only has a 4 inch live sand bed and knothing else yet.I won't be adding anything into my tank until I get my fuge running for a few months & get rid of my red algae problem.I still will do more research till I add a mandrin,I've been impatient in the past and me and the poor fish'es paid for it.I was wondering how I can tell if I have pods?Also I have a six line wrasse and don't know if the two can co-exest.
I like your idea of adding rubble & grass shrimp,I can't wait till my fuge is complete and running.
Once again thanks for your advice!!!

D.Barta

[SaltyJim]

I was wondering how I can tell if I have pods?

After your lights have been off for a cycle, turn them back on, and you should see lots of little critters running all over the place - pods. You can also try looking in the tank or fuge with a small flashlight.


Also I have a six line wrasse and don't know if the two can co-exest.
I like your idea of adding rubble & grass shrimp,I can't wait till my fuge is complete and running.


I'm not sure about coexisting, but I believe that the six-line could decimate the pod population if you haven't gotten it to eat other foods readily. That could also be why you don't see any pods. Anyone with a six-line want to confirm.


Also, good idea to get some rubble to put in the fuge. More diversity, and will help seed the sdand for you.


HTH,

Jim

[Ram_Puppy]

oh, forgot to mention, Calfo's book also reccomends adding mangroves and sea grasses to your refugium as well (emergent growth) as the bacteria that sloughs off their roots is a source of food for micro-fauna, it's one more way to enrich the whole thing...

and I believe your correct with your assesment of the sixline Jim, But I could be wrong, not all wrasses are pod predators, but in this case, I am simply not sure as wrasses don't intereste me much.

[Tim Marvin]

I run chaeto, grape, mangroves, and fern in the fuge 24/7 light. I agree with the rubble on pods, the more the better. If you don't like the rubble you can hide it behind the rock work, but it is important for heavy pod production. One mandarin in a 100 gallon or more tank should do well, providing you don't have a bunch of other pod eating things in there competing with it. You can also get mandarins to eat brineshrimp by feeding live brine and slowly converting to frozen brine shrimp. Good luck, and happy reefing.