When to start the fuge

[heyfredyourhat]

When should i start running my fuge?? Should it go during the cycle or wait until the cycle is over?? I have water flowing through it now, but no macroalgea yet...
thanks

 

[heyfredyourhat]

hmmm...TTT

 

[Sk8r]

I'd start it now re the 4" sandbed, with flow, and the rock rubble, add the cheato and turn on the light the day the cleaning crew goes in and never turn the light off.

Reasoning: right now you want its sandbed live and functioning, not cycling later.
And the phosphate seemingly won't be too available until after the cycle is done, according to some of my correspondents---at which point it will start entering the water and the algae will take off in a hospitable environment. You just want to make your fuge 'hungrier'. So as your cleaning crew goes to work and poos that phosphate back into the water, your fuge will be ready to grab it.

 

[snorvich]

I agree with above. I personally am not sure that a deep sand bed in a refugium is a good thing; I have a remote deep sand bed separate. That way there is no issue of trying to keep the sand clean as it has pretty good flow over it.

 

[steaminmikado]

what is cheato?