Refugium Question.

MyMonkey

MyMonkey

Persona Non Grata
I have been running a sump with semi-fuge for a few months now. I have Cheato and a few rocks with lights on 24 hours over the sump. Hence semi-fuge. It is a 10 gallon tank with a bit of Light difuser as a divider between the intake and return line.

My problem is that I picked up a nice skimmer (Life Reef VS2-24, Thanks again Dusty) that won't really fit in a 10 gallon along with space for a fuge. I do have a 20 gallon tank that I might try using.

Question: In the event that will not fit under my tank, should I go for the better skimmer or the fuge?
 
That's a tough one. I have ran a tank with a skimmer and no macro growing, and i fought hair algae the entire time. I have never ran a tank with macro and no skimmer, so not sure. I think i would probably go with the fuge and no skimmer, and do regular water changes to see what happened and work on a skimmer solution.
 
Not tough at all, you're better off with the fuge. And cheato should not be run with 24/7 lighting. The nighttime is an important phase in the daily cycle of a plant. It is required for proper respiration. You should actually get BETTER growth by switching to a normal cycle.

And one tip I learned recently, with LPS corals (which are planktivores), it is actually better to run your refugium lights on the same cycle as your main tank. In the dark, pod production will increase in your sump, causing more to get swept into the main tank. And that is also when your LPS are going to be out and trying to feed.
 
My fuge is full of grammarus shrimp and they run for shelter when the fuge lights come on. anti-phototropic little bugger. I actually run my lights on the fuge for about 2 days then turn em off for one night, then on for 2 more days, ect. ect. it seems to work fine for me. at least while I'm growing the cheato clump bigger, then I go to alternating light cycles with the display.
 
Sorry to beat a dead horse, but I gotta reiterated.

This is science - plants need a day and night cycle so they can properly respirate. That cycle is every bit as important to their health & growth as the light they use to photosynthesize.

I assume that the idea that running fuge lights longer stems from the concept that more light equals more photosynthesis equals more growth. This is no more correct then assuming you could leave your tank lights on for days at a time.

It also stems from the idea that Caulerpa can be kept from going sexual by keeping the lights on 24/7. It can't, of course, and should generally be avoided.

Ok, stepping off the soapbox now... :)
 
I'll have to agree with captbunzo on this one. If it is a general, low bioload tank, a refugium with good husbandry works wonders. I've been skimmerless on my tank for well over 6 months to be technical. I would say about a year and a half, because the skimmer that I was running didn't do much. ;)

But, a skimmer is priceless for tanks that require heavy feeding, a large bioload, messy fish, bad maintenance, etc.
 
let me see that soap box for a minute please,

I guess I should have explained better, My cheato area is small enough that my cheato will completely cover the surface area, growing more verticle than horizontal. This causes everything on the bottom to be in relative darkness, and i flip the cheato every day so it gets evenly lit. This may account for my cheato growing faster when I do leave my lights on, only half is getting any good lighting at any given time.
heres your soap box back, thankx. =o)
 
Soapbox received... ;) (jk)

I have heard these discussions a LOT around the forums. In the long run, I just really think we are arguing with nature when we decide that the lights need to be on longer.

More Light DOES NOT EQUAL more growth with a plant, EVEN IF you are talking about different sides of the same plant. Speaking of which, btw, when the top is getting light , it will share the photosynthetic products with the rest of the plant.

I guess I'm just a little crazy about trying to make our systems as natural as possible. I feel like that's the best way to create a healthy environment.

(ok, off soapbox again.... :))

(btw, no offense intended at all here - I hope the lively debate/discussion is ok with all...)
 
I'm am in no way trying to argue about this captn. I actually agree 100% with what you are saying, I just know that what i've been doing in my tank seems to be working for it's benefit so I havn't changed up anything in a while. I keep a freshwater planted tank and believe me, I know what a hassel it can be to get plants to grow just right. =o) It's taking me quit awhile to get my bannana lilly to grow like it as, oh I wish I had a pic for you guys, this lilly is freakin' huge!, and I have a nice 5-6inch lilly pad growing at the surface of my 55g. My Discus love huddling under this for shade. Open discussions like this are just all part of the fun! Game On!!!
 
I'm not agreeing or disagreeing here. But this is just a little information on the topics of Dark Respiration and Marine Algae. In fact, in the last link, the abstract pretty much states that Dark Respiration in Zooxanthallae algae occurs very strongly.

Ya, take a peek here for a good definition of Photosynthesis - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthesis

And take a looky-lou here about Dark (Mitochondrial) Respiration - http://130.199.4.11/Modelling/respirat.htm
**Abstract**
"The oxidation of carbohydrate to CO2 and H20 in living cells is generally termed respiration. In plant vegetation there are two main types of respiration. The first is called dark respiration (Rd) and includes various pathways of substrate oxidation such as glycolysis, the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway and the tricarboxylic acid (TCA or Krebs) cycle. These conserve some of the free energy in carbohydrate in the high energy bonds of ATP, reduced pyridine nucleotide (NADH) and FADH2. The term dark respiration also covers the further oxidation of NADH and FADH2 by transfer of electrons through the various electron transfer complexes of the mitochondrial electron transport pathway."

http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/PP9760063.htm

http://www.springerlink.com/content/v2520x364n3p7022/
**Abstract**
The rates of photosynthesis and dark respiration for 7 marine algae and 1 fresh-water alga were measured and compared. The dinoflagellates Glenodinium sp. and zooxanthellae have high dark respiration rates relative to photosynthetic rates, which may decrease their net growth rates. Photorespiration in the 8 algal species was studied by examining the effects of the concentration of oxygen on the rates of photosynthesis, on the incorporation of 14CO2 into the photorespiratory pathway intermediates glycine and serine, and on the postillumination burst of carbon dioxide production and oxygen consumption. A combination of these results indicates that all the algae tested can photorespire, but that Glenodinium sp., Thalassiosira pseudonana, and zooxanthellae either have a photorespiratory pathway different from that proposed for freshwater algae (Tolbert, 1974), or an additional pathway for glycolate metabolism.
 
Cool about the lily - I'd love to see that someday.

I've often thought that a planted freshwater tank would be fun. But then I remember I can't put corals in there.... But who knows, maybe someday...
 
Oh captain, the planted FW is the best, I used to be in love with growing plants and flowers, tried to learn all I could and have the nicest green room in my house but i kept killing em off one by one, then I put a few plants in with my guppies one day, and it looked so good, I just had to convert the whole tank to planted. Now I have a aquatic garden in my living room, so pretty and soothing to stare at. Throw about 30 various species of tetra's in there and WHAM! purley awesome.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8332626#post8332626 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by papagimp
Oh captain, the planted FW is the best, I used to be in love with growing plants and flowers, tried to learn all I could and have the nicest green room in my house but i kept killing em off one by one, then I put a few plants in with my guppies one day, and it looked so good, I just had to convert the whole tank to planted. Now I have a aquatic garden in my living room, so pretty and soothing to stare at. Throw about 30 various species of tetra's in there and WHAM! purley awesome.
Click to expand...

I agree, my last FW tank was a planted tank, and having a South American specie tank.

I must say, seeing a 4-5 schools of different tetras, in a nice, green planted tank is quite a nice changeup from a SW tank.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8332867#post8332867 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by captbunzo
I'm not convinced - I'll just HAVE to come see it in person... Whatcha doing saturday at around 4:00? :)
Click to expand...

In all likely hood I'll be staring at my fish tank around 4:00pm =o)

I don't get out of the house unless I have to
 
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