Working on refugium for macro algae

[tonym10]

I am working on designing a refugium to go behind my sump to put spaggetti algae in for phosphate removal, phosphates at .2 now, and I have some brown algae in back of tank. Here is a design i have come up with , does it make sence, I only plan to put the spagetti in there, no sand . How much spaggetti is recomended for for my size tank 75g, and how does this size refgium look for this application?
I also plan to use a mag 2 pump , 250 gal/hr, pump in sump, gravity feed back to sump.
Thanks

 

[beaslbob]

I thnk you are on the right track. I have heard that refugiums should be at least 30-40% of the display volumn. Bigger is better and any helps. And of course a lot would depend on the plant life and bioload in your display.

Just a thought. (within space limitations) My "gut feel" is that you might have some problems getting light to the lowers levels of the chaeto. My external refug is only about 6" deep. But then again 18" may be fine also.

 

[sjvl51]

Based on the refuge that I am running now, I would say Beaslbob is correct. You will probably be able to light about 3 or 4 inches so your refuge only needs to be 5 or 6 inches deep. I think that is your "5 " deep" notation.

I also think you will run into problems (like I did) with flow. I use a Maxi-Jet 1200 to pump the water to the refuge with a 3/4 inch bulkhead to gravity feed to the display tank. 2 problems -

1. The water wasn't moving very fast and slime built up on the algae, killing it. I added a second power head to increase the flow and eliminated some of the slime build up.

2. 3/4 bulkhead was too small to keep up with the powerhead. I eventually used a syphon to move some of the water back to the display tank as well. We plan on tearing down the refuge and redrilling to install a second bulkhead or a larger bulkhead this summer.

As with all macro algae, you want as much macro algae as will fit in the refuge and still grow. I usually aim for no more than 3/4 full to allow room for growth. Algae will not grow as fast if crowded and you want fast growth.

With chaeto (spaghetti) macro, you want enough flow so it is tumbling in the water to allow light to reach all areas. That stuff can get very dense.

JMO

Vickie

 

[tonym10]

sjvl51
Where did you add the 2nd power head? Did you put it in the refugium for water movement or did you add a 2nd one to give it more water from the tank? I tried to just make my center portion of my sump a refugium, it is not working , too much risk of chaeto building up in my return pump. So I will add the HOB refugium , I plan to drill the 3/4 bulkhead to a 1" bulkhead and gravity feed back to sump.

 

[sjvl51]

I used the second powerhead just for more circulation in the refuge because the bulkhead is too small to increase the flow from the tank. This summer we hope to redrill to increase the bulkhead (from 3/4 to 2 inch) and then I will try using the spare Mag 7 I have sitting here to pump water to the refuge.

Personnally if you are redrilling, I recommend go BIG. The 1 inch bulkhead won't move that much more water than a 3/4. Without a pump to push the water (just using gravity) I think you will be disappointed in how much water you can move.

JMO

Vickie