Is my Refugium my problem?

[TruespeedEM1]

Hello all. I have a 120g display tank with roughly a 40 gallon sump and a 25 or so gallon refugium. My refugium consists of live rock, a mangrove, a deep sand bed, and cheato.

Here is my problem. My nitrates have never been zero, and I've tested with multiple kits. I run a TLF Phosban Reactor, and change the media about once a month. I do bi weekly water changes of 20-25 gallons. I have always used RODI and I make my own saltwater. Reading online today I have seen that people actually do not suggest putting live rock in the fuge because it can become a nitrate factory!

So, my fuge was doing really good, a ton of pods (i used to be able to put my hand in there and get it covered in them) and overgrowing cheato. Now, my cheato is getting killed out by cyano and I cannot see any signs of pods in the refuge. There is junk all over the DSB. The only thing that is doing ok is the mangrove.

Should I be adding a Clean up crew to the fuge, and getting rid of the live rock rubble?

[sporto0]

Question: do you have a nuisance algae problem in your DT? I know people will say they have zero nitrates, but that is almost impossible to achieve unless there is not one single living thing in your tank. Cyano will not kill your cheato, rinse it off once a week, I doubt seriously your pod population has been affected by nitrates or by anything at all unless you have 10 mandarins in there, if your live rock in the refugium is submerged, it has not become a NITRATE FACTORY! If your not overun with microalgae in your display tank, I'm not sure what your perceived problem even is. Nitrates are a normal part of the water cycle, kept in check, there is no issue!

[TruespeedEM1]

my problem is the cyano all over everything in the fuge, the 1/2 inch thick detritus in the fuge, and hair algae spreading in the main tank

probably would have helped to put this in the OP, its late, sorry.

[sporto0]

Ok, now it makes more sense, how many fish are in your tank, how often do you do water changes & how much do you change? I am going to assume you have sand in your DT because you said that your refugium contained a DSB. High nutrients, ie phosphates & nitrates are caused by either overfeeding, overcrowding or poor maintenance, waste is always the root cause of nuisance algae growth, no matter how or why it got there, so give me more info on your tank, based on these questions & statements. Also a powerhead in your refugium will lessen your detritus build up.

[williamjhitchcock]

i got rid of mine and my tank cleaned right up. I had a ton of flow in it but all the junk still just got stuck in the cheato

[Hendogg0]

I had a similar problem in my fuge what I ended up doing was increase water flow and added a couple snails to it to keep algea in check also added media reactor anded gfo for phosphates and it cleared things up

[Catastrophi]

I would siphon out the 1/2" layer of detritus..

[allsps40]

I kept having Cotton Candy Algae issue, started in my fuge. After I took my fuge out no3 went up a little but algae problems went away. Sounds like you need more flow through the fuge and a filter sock 1/2" layer of detritus will cause problems for sure.

[marti224]

a good clean up crew in the fuge will go along way. I use blue legged crabs and sand sifting snails and I also have chaeto. Just have to clean it every so often if you do not have a good strong water flow on the algae.

[Hendogg0]

Yeah I agree with adding a clean up crew in the fuge. I thought it was a waste when I first had my fuge but it makes a world of difference having those little suckers in there. Just make sure not to over do it don't want to have them starve from doing a good job.

[reefgeezer]

Clean up before adding the clean-up crew. Remove the red slime and hair algae as much as possible and vacuum up the detritus. You might even want to figure out a way to prefilter the water entering the fuge. I suppose more current might keep detritus from settling there, but it just settle somewhere else if it is not exported.

It could be that the decaying detritus is supplying more nutrients than the fuge can handle leaving nutrients for HA and cyano. Unfortunately, a clean-up crew can slow the build-up of detritus and maybe some of the HA, but it won't reduce the nutrient build-up.

[Jeremy Blaze]

How old are the bulbs on the display, and the fuge? Old bulbs seem to encourage cyano growth, imo.

[TruespeedEM1]

i got rid of mine and my tank cleaned right up. I had a ton of flow in it but all the junk still just got stuck in the cheato

see i really dont have a lot of flow in my fuge. I always thought you wanted slight flow going through...how much flow are we talking?

I had a similar problem in my fuge what I ended up doing was increase water flow and added a couple snails to it to keep algea in check also added media reactor anded gfo for phosphates and it cleared things up

i will try to add some things to it.

I would siphon out the 1/2" layer of detritus..

i will

I kept having Cotton Candy Algae issue, started in my fuge. After I took my fuge out no3 went up a little but algae problems went away. Sounds like you need more flow through the fuge and a filter sock 1/2" layer of detritus will cause problems for sure.

how much flow? I have a filter pad from the returns.

Clean up before adding the clean-up crew. Remove the red slime and hair algae as much as possible and vacuum up the detritus. You might even want to figure out a way to prefilter the water entering the fuge. I suppose more current might keep detritus from settling there, but it just settle somewhere else if it is not exported.

It could be that the decaying detritus is supplying more nutrients than the fuge can handle leaving nutrients for HA and cyano. Unfortunately, a clean-up crew can slow the build-up of detritus and maybe some of the HA, but it won't reduce the nutrient build-up.

i will try to get things cleaned up. how will i do this if the sand is turning anerobic (sp?) There are some black spots.

How old are the bulbs on the display, and the fuge? Old bulbs seem to encourage cyano growth, imo.

The bulbs on the fuge are ancient. I feel this is part of my problem as well.

[TruespeedEM1]

Well I think I may have figured out my problem. I was looking at my fuge tonight and had a *** moment. Noticed it was just sitting stale. Well, The tube leading to the pump for the spray bar that I have set up to run through the refugium came unhooked, and so my fuge has just been sitting stale for only god knows how long.

[graciesdad]

yeah i agree with adding a clean up crew in the fuge. I thought it was a waste when i first had my fuge but it makes a world of difference having those little suckers in there. Just make sure not to over do it don't want to have them starve from doing a good job.

+1