Growing a new reef in my refugium

[Paul B]

I don't really have a refugium, but a lighted algae trough that is above my water. It is fed from the outflow of my skimmer (I don't have a sump)
The purpose of it is to have a better place for algae to grow rather than in my tank itself and for the years that it has been installed, it has worked flawlessly.
I don't pay much attention to it but I looked in it today because the water is a little deeper than it usually is. I have a screen in there in case I want to clean it out I can roll up the screen and rinse it off but that ain't going to happen. There is an entire coral reef growing in there and it is about 1/2" deep already. It is mostly hard tube worms but there is also encrusting corals, a type of bubble algae and hundreds of amphipods that seem to be playing ball with the hoards of baby brittle stars. This is why I love this hobby so much, you never know what you are going to find. Now I know those tube worms grow on everything as they are inside anything in my tank that has water in it, but I didn't realize I had so many growing in the trough. The water is having a hard time getting through so I will have to thin it out a little. Those tube worms make an excellent filter as their "feathery" gills are perfect for straining out tiny particles of whatever is in there and there is obviously something in there to support such a massive amount of life. Also, while re positioning a bottle that my fireclown calls home, I found a living mussel large enough to eat. He is under a rock completely under the gravel. I am not sure if it is a local New York mussel (I doubt it) or something that came on a coral as a baby. :wavehand:

 

[mkoop]

Cool stuff Paul, thanks for sharing!

 

[madadi]

we need pictures!!! if you ever feel like crapping some of that biodiversity off and putting in a bag to seed my tank i would greatly appreciate it. just let me know how much to paypal you

 

[Paul B]

If I ever decide to do that, I don't charge for anything. I don't think I ever sold anything out of my tank in my life.
It is hard to get a picture in there as that fluorescent light is over it and it is a pain to move which is the reason the stuff grew, I am to lazy to clean the thing

 

[madadi]

i love to see the sump teaming with life in a well established system. i can watch the different pods and worms for hours haha

 

[buffalo123]

I'm thinking of starting an algae scrubber but ran into this and thought easier to fit an algae trough. Would you recommend the trough according to how yours worked out, any improvement you would suggest?

 

[Paul B]

The thing works well. Just angle it slightly towards the emptying end and put a PVC window screen in the bottom. Allow the screen to contact the surface of your water so there is no splashing. Good Luck

 

[Subsea]

Good hearing about your natural filtration system. Anthony Calfo used Xenia in a water trough. I like your tube worms better.

Paul, are you still writing a book about this marvelous hobby?

 

[Rybren]

Paul's book is out in both e-book and hard copy. You can get it at saltwatersmarts

 

[chilli_reef]

Pretty sweet !

 

[Dan_P]

Nice report. Use a boroscope to get us some pictures of the trough contents.

I suspect the algae trough is a significantly different environment than can be achieved in a sump. Maybe the superficial velocity across the entire cross section of the trough might be "the" thing. I've observed dramatically improved macro algae (from Long Island Sound) growth under vigorous flow (no other changes, rapid growth commenced within days of adding power heads).

 

[NickReef17]

Wow, i have never seen a design like this and i love it!

i agree with the others....lets see some pictures of inside that trough!

 

[DrewHaus]

That's awesome! I've read through your other threads and am truly impressed with how long this system has been running. It's a work of art!