Hello everyone....question about my fuge...

[juliogonzalez7]

Hello guys...I'm new to the RC community (posting that is...I've been a silent reader for awhile now...)...I have a question about my refugium. I have a 110 gal tank that's been running now for more that 8 years. It looks great, all water parameters are excellent, except for the phosphates that are a little high. .15 ppm..After setting up the refugium phosphates are dropping like crazy and my tank is as pretty as ever. I'll post pictures one of these days...Should I keep my refugium light 24/7 or interchange lights between my main tank (8 hrs.) and the fuge (16 hrs). Right now it is 24/7, but I believe macros need darkness to complete photosyntesis. In the instruction manual of my fuge it said to leave the lights on 24/7...so I'm comfused. Please help...[/B"]

 

[piercho]

My opinion is that a vegetative filter should get at least a 6 hour period of no lighting, daily. There is a notion that keeping Caulerpa lighted all the time will supress mass sexual reproduction events in that (common) algae, and vegetative filters sometimes recommend 24/7 lighting for that reason. IME the best way to keep Caulerpa from reproducing sexually is to harvest it regularly so that what algae remains gets plenty of water flow and light.

I light my filter on a period inverse to the tank lighting. That is, when the tank lights are off, the filter lights are on. On some tanks, inverse lighting may assist in keeping pH closer to equilibrium (around 8.2).

 

[deepbluesea99]

i counter light my fuge with good results but i have alge that wont go sexual ill send you some pics and explain the setup in detail if you like e me

 

[juliogonzalez7]

Thanks for your reply, and yes my email address is julio_gonzalez@bellsouth.net. Again, thanks for your input.

 

[Mekong]

Why not just post the pics here so we can all see?