How big should your macro algae farm be to be effective?

rsteagall

rsteagall

New member
I'll be finishing off my new sump tonight and have increased my macro growing area by about 4x. I'm just curious what you guys think a good size fuge would be to actually make macro effective at what its supposed to do compared to the size tank and bio-load you have.

Thoughts?
 
I use a 29g and a 20L, both with DSB's and cheato. I out grow this almost weekly so since i dont have any frags in the frag tank currently, I've moved some cheato there (temp).

I will say this. I have never had any PO4 detectible on either a Salifert of Lamott test kits. What i do have is a little N, say maybe 3-4ppm.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8123284#post8123284 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by KAiNE
I use a 29g and a 20L, both with DSB's and cheato. I out grow this almost weekly so since i dont have any frags in the frag tank currently, I've moved some cheato there (temp).

I will say this. I have never had any PO4 detectible on either a Salifert of Lamott test kits. What i do have is a little N, say maybe 3-4ppm.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input guys. Bigger the better... I suppose I can agree with that. Possibly I have too little... thus my small hair algae issue. I do use RO/DI water with 0 TDS for topoff and water changes. I feed a little flake daily and thats it. My animals include:

2 - clown fish
1 - bicolor blenny
1 - lawnmower blenny (yes my 2 blennys get along just fine)
1 - blue line goby (very small
1 - royal gramma
2 - pepermint shrimp
1 - skunk cleaner shrimp
and a bunch of blue leg hermits and snails


I would consider this to be a fairly low bioload system even for a 58 gal. Would you?
 
I wouldnt call that a high bioload myself. What is your NO3 and PO4 testing at right now?

I never, even when curring LR tested any measurable PO4. I did however get some GARF grunge. I was very hesitant about putting it in so i QT'd it first. That stuff tested so far off the scale for PO4 it wasnt funny. Needless to say i never used the stuff.
 
I was very unhappy with my very pricy grunge also. It had a broken thermometer in it when I dumped it in. A nice scoop of sand from a local fuge would be just as good IMO.

I think the size of the fuge is only gonna be limited by your nutrients. If you have low nutrients your alage will not grow very fast to fill up a huge fuge... make sence? My fuge compartment is big and my ball of cheato just hasn't grown at all in the new tank but it is fishless, 99% new water and has no nutrients to feed it.....for now!
 
My NO3 is hardly measurable (as of about a month ago) and I don't have a P04 test kit.... which only assists the problem at hand.

We'll see what this increased macro farm size does over the next few weeks. This may make all the difference. Currently I'm still running my CPR aquafuge PS and it may be a little too small for this size tank.

-Ryan

P.S. The CPR aquafuge PS is still for sale. I was asking $175 OBO.. but I never got a single offer. I dunno whats up with that???? :P
 
I agree Angela, a scoop from a local reefer is far better. Mistakes... live and learn i guess. Do you think that stuff increased your PO4? I about died when i tested my QT after adding that stuff and to think i almost added it to my tank!

Ryan, How well has your cheato grown in the past? If its not growning fast your either lacking in a required nutrient or are providing insufficent light. I use the compact fluorescents from Lowes. They dont have the 5500k bulb people talk about but they have, I think its a 3500k. I have a pair of those about 4" above the 29g and a single light above the 20l.
I also believe that good flow helps as well, if for nothing else, to keep it "clean". I estimate I run about 300-350gph through my fuges.

I'd get a PO4 test and see where you stand. I'd recommend Lamotte for PO4, easier to read than Salifert IMO.
 
That was in the day of the 20 gallon tank and I never tested anything. Amazing stuff lived!! It sure was nasty though and stunk! But after I paid $40 for a little bag I was dummping it in! :lol:
 
In the past, its grown fairly well. In the past months though, there has been some hair algae growth among the cheato. I don't think its a flow issue... but maybe its dirty. When you clean yours what are you talking about?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8129540#post8129540 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rsteagall
In the past, its grown fairly well. In the past months though, there has been some hair algae growth among the cheato. I don't think its a flow issue... but maybe its dirty. When you clean yours what are you talking about?
Click to expand...

I don't clean mine... I think the flow helps keep it a little cleaner. I do get a little coraline growth on cheato in my frag tank.

I'll try and post a pic tonight of mine. I need to pull some, its so full right now that i worry about the bottom layers breaking up (cheato's version of going sexual). I've had this happen in the past and it is such a pain to deal with.

I have heard of people taking their cheato out and actually cleaning it. I dont, mainly because of the pods and other life i want to keep. I also dont really care if i have some hair algae in my fuge or overflows, as long as its not in the display, i dont worry about it.
 
I pulled a grocery bag after i took these.

fuge1.jpg

fuge2.jpg
 
Cheato's form of going sexual is a bunch of pieces breaking off? Hmm... I have a ton of small pieces in my CPR Aquafuge laying on the bottom. I guess this is a sign of it getting too thick?

Anyway, I bought some lights like yours this past weekend and have completed building my sump tonight. I moved most of the cheato down to my fuge chamber and left only a little bit in the CPR. It appears that I have quite a bit of detritus buildup in my CPR while running the past year. This may be the cause of some of my problems. I'll probably take it down this weekend and try to save as many small critters as I can. I actually found quite a few micro serpent stars in my cheato when I moved it down to the sump. It definitely has about 3x as much room to grow now... I also know its getting much more flow. Hopefully things will start clearing up. I'll try to post a picture later of my setup now that I'm finished.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8129466#post8129466 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by KAiNE
I use the compact fluorescents from Lowes. They dont have the 5500k bulb people talk about but they have, I think its a 3500k. I have a pair of those about 4" above the 29g and a single light above the 20l.
Click to expand...

Abit off topic walmart has a compact fluorescent 6500k 60w bulb for 9 bucks...
 
Yes, when cheato goes (its version of) "sexual" it breaks up into bits. Best thing to do IMO is only keep what isnt brittle feeling. Stuff clogs pumps and gets everywhere.

When I pull some out, like tonite. I roll the whole thing over and grab hand fulls. I pull out about half of, it leaving the lighter green.
 
From what i can tell from the pics, it looks ok to me.
I would raise the water level, if possible. I subscribe to "dilution is the solution to pollution" therefor if i had room to add a 100g tank to my system i would, just to increase the water volume.
 
Yes, the water level was at about its lowest point. :P I've since added 8-10 more gallons which takes it to the maximum the sump can hold if there was a power outtage. :)
 
That was fast!

lol..... killin time at work maybe??

I'm just here to put out fires it seems some days.
 
Yea.... my main sump has to be able to hold about 20g when the main pump goes off (power outage or feeding time).
 
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