Algae growing system. need help

[serjuanca88]

I had this in the reef discussion forum, but would probally be better to post here:

I was cleaning my garage and I found a 30g patio pond and a 400w MH ballast. I would like to make a algae growing system. Basically a refugium not connected to a main tank.

Does this sound good:

30g Pond
400w Suspended MH, probally 65k
DSB of pool sand, unless I get some southdown
powerhead(s) or airlift(s) for water movement
differnt algaes and some liverock or rubble

I would have no filter. Just a bunch of algae. Probally differnt kinds seperated by eggcrate.

Basically I would like to have a bunch of algae and pods.

No skimmer for sure, I just dont wanna spend the money.

Anything I'm missing? Should I get a filter? maybe a sponge filter?

 

[GDW]

Greetings serjuanca88 !

400w MH suspended above a 30 ... algae growth will not be a problem. However, heat transfer may be a problem, depending upon what alga species you keep.

Eggcrate will not do much in the way of separation over the long term.

You might wish to innoculate the DSB with some live sand from Inland Aquatics, or Wondermud from IPSF, or GARF Grunge Lite, or some other source. Depending upon the quality of the innoculant, you should have some serious "beasties" populations developing after about 2-3 weeks.

You will definitely need some form of filtration, although nothing complex. I would think that some simple form of activated carbon filter will suffice in the short term. Long term needs will probably depend upon how functional your DSB becomes. Also, I would suggest making sure that the 30 has vigorous surface turbulence.

HTH,
GDW

 

[serjuanca88]

I would like to incorporate some live sand or live rock to get a nice DSB going.

For a filter, I'm thinking about getting one of the quick filter attachement for a powerhead.

 

[serjuanca88]

Algae need nutrients to grow.

So it seems I should be dosing something.

Any ideas?

Iron
Potassium
???