long list of refugium questions

[heckfire]

im setting one up,, so let the questions begin 1- will a cfl keep the cheeto alive? 2-how do you keep cheeto out of and away from your return pump? 3- will the clear tubing they sell at home depot work for the plumbing,, and what type of glue do you use ? 4-im using sand,, live rock and cheeto,, can i use ZERO mechanical filtration,, meaning no more floss?? 5- will the live rock in the fuge cause another cycle??? thx in advance

[reeftanknewbie]

Well let me see if I can share my thoughts on as many of these questions as possible.

1. will a cfl keep the chaeto alive? Yes, I am using an inexpensive clip on light from Lowes with a 10,000k florescent flood lamp.
2. how do you keep chaeto out of and away from your return pump? If your using a sump with refugium then I recommend having three baffles installed so that you keep the Chaeto in its place and reduce bubbles from returning into your DT. If no sump then I would use needle point screening found at your local hobby/craft store. It comes in large sheets for very cheap and can be cut to size to create a wall.
3. will the clear tubing they sell at home depot work for the plumbing,, and what type of glue do you use? Yes, I have bought the clear tubing from lowes and it has been working fine. As far as glue goes I am not sure I understand your question. I wouldn't use glue on the tubing, I just used zip ties or thumb ties.
4. im using sand,, live rock and cheeto,, can i use ZERO mechanical filtration,, meaning no more floss? This is a bit of a difficult question to answer without knowing your plans for the tank to include bioload of fish, etc. But to briefly answer the question, yes as long as you have enough live rock and sand to manage bacteria colonies and keep your fish to an appropriate number give the size tank you are using. I would also recommend using the KISS (keep it simple stupid) philosophy when it comes to maintaining the tank. Weekly water changes is all that I do to keep the tank healthy and I avoid all these gimmicks on remedies to keep nutrients out of the tank.
5.will the live rock in the fuge cause another cycle? I would say add it slowly over several weeks and you should be ok. It would help even more if the tank was already established for awhile before you thought of doing that. Live rock is not needed in the refugium unless you want more filtration and are keeping the LR in the DT at a minimium. I just keep Chaeto in my refugium and keep the rock in the tank.

I am no expert by any means however I have learned from these same very questions you asked and thought I would share my thoughts. Hope this helps.

[WhoDat?]

just for a second opinion...... I agree with everything above!!

[EastBayReefer10]

I use a coralife 18w light, with 2 9w 5700k lights, grows like a weed.

to keep it away from the return use some gutter guard from home depot or lowes, cut it as a divider before the pump, it will keep all that out of the pump.

[WhoDat?]

I've used that coralife light before.... It was like $45 and at the tome I thought it was growing my macro algae well.... Until I switched to the Lowes $5 clamp light with a flourescent bulb just to see what the fuss was all about.... WOW.... now I gotta trim half of it every water change.... It's excellent!!

[jeff@zina.com]

im setting one up,, so let the questions begin 1- will a cfl keep the cheeto alive? 2-how do you keep cheeto out of and away from your return pump? 3- will the clear tubing they sell at home depot work for the plumbing,, and what type of glue do you use ? 4-im using sand,, live rock and cheeto,, can i use ZERO mechanical filtration,, meaning no more floss?? 5- will the live rock in the fuge cause another cycle??? thx in advance

1. Yes.

2. Egg crate.

3. Yes. The clear tubing doesn't get glued, it gets clamped onto hose barb fittings.

4. Yes. Whatever works for you.

5. Possibly. Not enough detail to answer.

Jeff

[RocketSurgeon]

Well, sounds like that was answered. good job.

[kameleon23]

Only 1 suggestion. You could use black tubing instead of clear tubing...clear tubing will cause algae growth inside the tubes.

[heckfire]

this place is a goldmine,, thx for the answers all,,, i plan on 4 small fish total,, i have 3 now,,the tank is a 60 tall,, i downsized,, with about 40 lbs of live rock and a deep sand bed,,i have about 30 lbs of rock 'cooking' right now,,... polyps will make up the majority of the tank,, so 4 small fish,, some hitchhiker pistol shrimp and no more to keep the bioload low ,,, also the glue question was for a small section on the return into the tank,, i will have to use pvc,, is any glue safe for the aquarium?

[reeftanknewbie]

I use regular plumbers glue for the PVC stuff. And lock tight super glue for my frags.

[inigomontoya]

To tie into the tubing question from here. I bought a used tank and discovered he had it plumbed totally wrong (from the bulkheads being backwards-rubber gasket on outside- etc). I am starting over from scratch and have most of my materials but was debating on the connection for the return pump. Would it be best to use the black tubing with the barb hook to connect to your pvc or would it be ok to directly tie in 1/2" pvc to the pump and up to the bulkhead (I will also have a gate in between). I am pretty sure I can line it up properly between the sump and dt to work with straight pvc- just want what has the best flow. Thanks

[RocketSurgeon]

Less 90 degree bends the better. Make sure you can easily remove the pump for service and maintenance. Also consider the flexible pvc.

[reeftanknewbie]

Less 90 degree bends the better. Make sure you can easily remove the pump for service and maintenance. Also consider the flexible pvc.

I agree with this completely. I also prefer the clear tubing to view obstructions that may occur. Mine doesn't get any exposure to light therefore no algae bloom.