earwicker7
New member
I have a 220g display with an 80g deep sand bed refugium and 60g sump. It's just over the one year mark.
I had been following a "let it grow wild" methodology in the refugium... as long as the display looked good, I didn't care what the refugium looked like, mainly because it produced an army of pods. That worked until a couple of weeks ago... there was almost zero algae in the display, and that was only on the wavemaker pumps and the usual film you wipe off the glass. The rocks were pristine. But the refugium got to the point that it was just nasty looking, where the hair algae started to overrun the chaeto, so I decided to clean it up. The problem is that, once I started cleaning it up, the hair algae migrated to the display.
At this point, it is very minor, and probably not noticeable to anyone but me, but I want to nip it in the bud before it becomes a problem.
I am a heavy feeder, but I also do very frequent water changes... usually 30 to 50 gallons a week.
My last tank used Zeovit, and I loved it, but I am trying to do something different with this setup... experimentation is half the fun.
I have a white tailed bristletooth tang that gets out of quarantine next week, and a magnificent foxface waiting at the LFS which will go into quarantine after the tang is out. I stock my tank fairly slowly, so they will be the first herbivorous fish in it... I have a goldflake angelfish which picks at the rocks a bit, but not like a pure herbivore. I am hoping they might be enough, but if not, I need to be prepared to take action.
The tank runs at 1.026 salinity, 76 to 77 degrees (it's on a chiller), pH is normally around 8.20, and never goes below 8.00. Zero nitrates or phosphates, although I just ordered an ultra low range phosphate tester, so it is possible that this reading may change slightly.
I have considered vodka dosing, but from the small amount of research I have done, it seems like you base the dose on how much nitrates and phosphates you have, and if mine measure at undetectable, I am not sure how I should proceed. Could you dose based solely on observation of unwanted algae growth, or is that too risky?
I am open to other suggestions... the good thing is that I don't put corals in a tank until I think it is ready, so as of now, it is just fish, the cleanup crew, and the very well-behaved mantis shrimp which hitchhiked on the live rock, so there is a little more leeway to experiment vs. when the sps are in there.
Thanks!
I had been following a "let it grow wild" methodology in the refugium... as long as the display looked good, I didn't care what the refugium looked like, mainly because it produced an army of pods. That worked until a couple of weeks ago... there was almost zero algae in the display, and that was only on the wavemaker pumps and the usual film you wipe off the glass. The rocks were pristine. But the refugium got to the point that it was just nasty looking, where the hair algae started to overrun the chaeto, so I decided to clean it up. The problem is that, once I started cleaning it up, the hair algae migrated to the display.
At this point, it is very minor, and probably not noticeable to anyone but me, but I want to nip it in the bud before it becomes a problem.
I am a heavy feeder, but I also do very frequent water changes... usually 30 to 50 gallons a week.
My last tank used Zeovit, and I loved it, but I am trying to do something different with this setup... experimentation is half the fun.
I have a white tailed bristletooth tang that gets out of quarantine next week, and a magnificent foxface waiting at the LFS which will go into quarantine after the tang is out. I stock my tank fairly slowly, so they will be the first herbivorous fish in it... I have a goldflake angelfish which picks at the rocks a bit, but not like a pure herbivore. I am hoping they might be enough, but if not, I need to be prepared to take action.
The tank runs at 1.026 salinity, 76 to 77 degrees (it's on a chiller), pH is normally around 8.20, and never goes below 8.00. Zero nitrates or phosphates, although I just ordered an ultra low range phosphate tester, so it is possible that this reading may change slightly.
I have considered vodka dosing, but from the small amount of research I have done, it seems like you base the dose on how much nitrates and phosphates you have, and if mine measure at undetectable, I am not sure how I should proceed. Could you dose based solely on observation of unwanted algae growth, or is that too risky?
I am open to other suggestions... the good thing is that I don't put corals in a tank until I think it is ready, so as of now, it is just fish, the cleanup crew, and the very well-behaved mantis shrimp which hitchhiked on the live rock, so there is a little more leeway to experiment vs. when the sps are in there.
Thanks!
. So the goal is to have enough nutrients to grow some (too little and corals will suffer), but have things that will keep it in check like snails/crabs etc to the point where it wont take over. 
