Sump, skimmer, refugium and hair algae

[Shark888]

Hello,

I have read somewhere that refugium strong light could spread hair algae inside skimmer, can someone confirm this.

My refugium is next chamber of the skimmer and skimmer is getting light from it.

Should I cover refugium glass to avoid too much light getting to the skimmer ?

 

[mcgyvr]

If a skimmer is put in a brightly lit area then yes algae can/will grow in it..

Same reason why its not the best to use clear vinyl tube for your return pump plumbing. Any light will cause algae to grow in it..

Seeing your setup I doubt its really going to be a serious problem but you can certainly get some algae growing in the skimmer.. But you should be cleaning it on occasion and can easily remove what grows..
If it becomes a real problem then simply use something opaque to block the light.

 

[Bryan3536]

If it becomes a real problem then simply use something opaque to block the light.

What's something opaque that would work?



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AlSimmons]

I wouldn't even worry about shading the skimmer. Just clean the chamber every 6 months or so and you should be set. Pretty much everything down there is going to be covered in some form of algae eventually.

 

[Shark888]

Well received, thanks all for answering.