Where Do I Start?

[jjmatti]

I am looking for suggestions or help? I have a 200 gallon FOWLR and I am battling with high Nitrates. I clean the pre-filter media vaccum the bottom and change water pretty often. I usually vaccum 1/3 of the tank a week and do a 15 gallon water change in the proccess.
I have a sump and skimmer and the livestock is as follows:
Naso Tang (12")
Powder Blue Tang (4")
Hippo Tang (6")
Percula Clown
Blue Girdled Angel (6")
FoxFace (6")

NOW TO THE QUESTION?
Can I do a hang on Refugium?
Will growing macro-Alage reduce nitrates?
If so how much do you need per gallon?
Will this provide food to the hungry Tangs?
I dont think I have room for this in my current sump and want a inexpensive solution until I am able to build a bigger sump..

Thanks,

 

[graveyardworm]

Re: Where Do I Start?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6649577#post6649577 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jjmatti


NOW TO THE QUESTION?
Can I do a hang on Refugium?
Will growing macro-Alage reduce nitrates?
If so how much do you need per gallon?
Will this provide food to the hungry Tangs?
I dont think I have room for this in my current sump and want a inexpensive solution until I am able to build a bigger sump..

Thanks,

I dont have the experience that other members in this forum have, but I've been doing alot of reading and recently set up a fuge for my system. Hopefully others can elaborate.

Can I do a hang on Refugium?

If you have the space then sure. Have you considered plumbing another tank into your sump instead? This will keep the excess equipment in your display to a minimum.

Will growing macro-Alage reduce nitrates?

It certainly will and it'll also help reduce phosphate.

If so how much do you need per gallon?

Any size is better than none, and the bigger the better.

Will this provide food to the hungry Tangs?

Some macros will be more prefered than others by your tangs so you'll have to research those. You'll also get alot of other microlife in there due to the lack of predation which will help feed your other fish and inverts.

I dont think I have room for this in my current sump and want a inexpensive solution until I am able to build a bigger sump..

You wouldnt need a very big section in your sump dedicated for macro to be a benefit to your tank.



Pics of your current set up may help people to see what your dealing with and offer more specific suggestions.

 

[eleodes]

it is my impression that the nitrate-reducing abilities of seaweeds have been somewhat overrated. the common practice of keeping macros with DSB's probably accounts for more of the pollution control that people experience in such refugiums.

if well-tended, however, a macro refugium will certainly have many benefits. if you can include a sufficiently ample and well-managed DSB then you will also see significant nitrate reduction.

a seaweed-dedicated tank can also lend a lot of aesthetic appeal. there is a surprising array of diverse and pretty forms to choose from. if you have the space for it it would be cool to consider having the refugium be a second display tank. as graveyardworm suggests you could plumb it from the sump and have it off to one side.

 

[Ehgemus]

Re: Where Do I Start?

[I usually vaccum 1/3 of the tank a week ]

I don't thank you should vaccum your tank, that mite be the reason for the nitrate

 

[The_Nexis_One]

Re: Re: Where Do I Start?

Re: Re: Where Do I Start?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6842727#post6842727 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Harold Edwards
I don't thank you should vaccum your tank, that mite be the reason for the nitrate

If you have Crushed Coral or other coarse substrate - vac'ing it frequently will help reduce the amount of waste that goes into the "N" cycle.... therefore limiting the amount of Nitrate produced at the end.


Personally, I found that a 27"x12"x3" DSB was enough by itself to strip my 125g system of 20ppm Nitrates and keep them gone - even with heavy feeding.

There was a recent thread on a DSB in a bucket - this may yield faster results than managing a macro solution.

That said - If I were in your shoes.. I would most definetly setup a macro tank in addition to a DSB (probably both in the same tank - partially because i'm a tank addict, partially because you could feed your tangs the produce, and partially becuase DSB and macro's go hand in hand).

Check out the thread here on DSB in a bucket, get some good seed sand from a LFS or friend with a seasoned DSB and let it rip in a 5gal bucket until you can settle on a long term arrangement of an additional tank/refug.

Fish are beautiful, coral is amazing, but a well populated refugium will steal the show every time........

Guests to my home will stand in front of the Refugium for the majority of their visit... yeah yeah... the reef is cool, but "DUDE - look at that bug looking thing... and what is that plant.... and WOOOah - is that some kind of worm...and where's your Eel?"

Seriously, a refug isn't just a filter anymore - at least for me, it's becoming the main attraction. Besides, it might be a nice place to stick a friendly Eel to augment your FOWLR setup...

Just my $0.02
John.