Live rock and chaeto in sump? High flow? Detritus?! Help!

[dianapickles]

hi :)

TL;DR - High flow sump with live rock. Want to put chaeto in sump on live rock or in the section next to it. Good or bad?

So I'm researching about refugium and such and I just can't seem to come to a conclusion as to what is best for the sump. Half the reefers say live rock in the sump is just a detritus collector and half say that it helps to breed pods and remove nitrates.

Right now, I have some live rock in the sump seeding from my old tank in just one section. My sump also has sand in it (It made its way in through the bottom intake of the overflow). My sump has pretty adequate flow going through it so that sort of reduces the purpose of a fuge but at the same time provides enough flow to decrease detritus build up on the live rock.

I'm under the impression that chaeto benefits from higher flow. My question is, is does this mean that with this flow, the chaeto is happy, the live rock won't have a build up of detritus and the pods and such can hide in non flow areas of the rock (aka inside the rock piles)?

I'm seriously lost here :(

[ca1ore]

The only good reason I can think of to have a pile of rocks in the sump is if the display has such an open aquascape that additional bio-filtration is needed. However, even with open aquascapes, I've never found sump-limental rock to be needed :lol:

Pods will proliferate just fine in chaeto, so no need for rocks for that either. Personally I just run enough flow through my sump to keep the chaeto ball 'tumbling' - requires a small, strategically positioned powerhead for the task.

[dianapickles]

The only good reason I can think of to have a pile of rocks in the sump is if the display has such an open aquascape that additional bio-filtration is needed. However, even with open aquascapes, I've never found sump-limental rock to be needed :lol:

Pods will proliferate just fine in chaeto, so no need for rocks for that either. Personally I just run enough flow through my sump to keep the chaeto ball 'tumbling' - requires a small, strategically positioned powerhead for the task.

Well that is the precise reason :) I like minimalist aquascaping so I placed the additional live rock in the sump for now. :hammer:

I wouldn't mind taking out the live rock then. I might just add that to the display because it's not much and just fill two good sections of chaeto. :D

Now I just have to figure out how to get that bloody sand out of there :uhoh3:

[MidwesternTexan]

hi :)

TL;DR - High flow sump with live rock. Want to put chaeto in sump on live rock or in the section next to it. Good or bad?

So I'm researching about refugium and such and I just can't seem to come to a conclusion as to what is best for the sump. Half the reefers say live rock in the sump is just a detritus collector and half say that it helps to breed pods and remove nitrates.

Right now, I have some live rock in the sump seeding from my old tank in just one section. My sump also has sand in it (It made its way in through the bottom intake of the overflow). My sump has pretty adequate flow going through it so that sort of reduces the purpose of a fuge but at the same time provides enough flow to decrease detritus build up on the live rock.

I'm under the impression that chaeto benefits from higher flow. My question is, is does this mean that with this flow, the chaeto is happy, the live rock won't have a build up of detritus and the pods and such can hide in non flow areas of the rock (aka inside the rock piles)?

I'm seriously lost here :(

Just about anything can build up detritus, more so in eddy current areas.
Chaeto is a major home for pods- both too small to see and visible ones; it also builds up detritus- partially eaten by the pods, etc.

I was a major Chaeto farmer- I always had enough to fill a 40b tank usually.
Then I decided to get on the band wagon of an Algae turf scrubber- glad I did too.
After a few months, I had given away all of my massive cheato!
MY system now has less nuisance algae, then with my LR and chaeto.

Good luck

[vertigo01]

Well that is the precise reason :) I like minimalist aquascaping so I placed the additional live rock in the sump for now. :hammer:

I wouldn't mind taking out the live rock then. I might just add that to the display because it's not much and just fill two good sections of chaeto. :D

Now I just have to figure out how to get that bloody sand out of there :uhoh3:

Use a shop vac.

[cracker]

For what it's worth Iv'e had just chaeto and Iv'e kept Lr in the fuge. The rock caused a lot of detritus building up. I have what I considered a high flow sump. No more Lr in my fuge or a sand bed either. I think that Lr in the sump is a good thing if Your willing to clean it out often. Avoid the dirt trap!

[dianapickles]

Just about anything can build up detritus, more so in eddy current areas.
Chaeto is a major home for pods- both too small to see and visible ones; it also builds up detritus- partially eaten by the pods, etc.

I was a major Chaeto farmer- I always had enough to fill a 40b tank usually.
Then I decided to get on the band wagon of an Algae turf scrubber- glad I did too.
After a few months, I had given away all of my massive cheato!
MY system now has less nuisance algae, then with my LR and chaeto.

Good luck

I was actually thinking of getting an algae scrubber. Does it reduce the amount of chaeto you need ? I wanted to fill two whole sections of chaeto.

[mikeatjac]

Instead of rock in your sump I use a ceramic block. I have very little rock in my DT and this works well for me. I would also put a small pump in with the block. The block will perform better and it will keep everything from settling.

[greg683x]

theres nothing wrong with keeping rock or rubble in your sump. You'll just need to take a turkey baster every now then and stir up anything that does build up around or under the rocks. Yeah it's one more thing youll have to do, but youre gonna need to do maintenance in your sump every so often as well, it only takes a few seconds

[CHSUB]

my sump/fug has live rock, however, you will have to just "take my word" on that!!!!:p

http://http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b606/CHSUB/image_zpseih5dqas.jpeg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CHSUB/media/image_zpseih5dqas.jpeg.html)

[ExpertMarine]

Two weeks ago I expanded the refugium in my sump and it's making a big impact. Big ball of Chaeto with a light running 21 hours a day dropped my No3 to 25 in one week . I also skipped my weekly water change to see two week results (testing again tomorrow).
I stopped running bio pellets after loosing some mushrooms and feel I'm better off without them. I also prefer a bare bottom sump so I can vacuum out the detritus that settles on the bottom, and periodically run my two Gyre's full speed to help wast into the water column and into the filter socks. If you don't have enough flow to dislodge waste into the water column it's going to cause problems down the road.

Here's a cheesy video of my set up that I did with no rehearsal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1jf7ZTYizE

[rtecanoe]

nice tank! what are your favorite wrasses in there? I need to get a wrasse or two, they add so much movement to the tank

[dianapickles]

Well I picked up some caulerpa algae and stuck it in the sump. Not sure how good caulerpa is... I wanted chaeto but I think the guy at the LFS had no idea which was which. I only noticed till I got home.
So far so good anyway! It's tumbling away in the sump. I'm hoping to change it to chaeto soon anyway.

I'll leave the live rock in because I have so much live rock and no where to fit it in the display :S

Here's the final rockscape. Can't wait to transfer the corals :thumbsup:

[ExpertMarine]

Hello Rick. Thanks for the compliment. I love the Lineatus Supermale, Katherine's super male, Rosy Scale, and Rhomboid. Pm me if you are interested in a very nice Lineatus or Katherine's as I have a couple I could sell.


nice tank! what are your favorite wrasses in there? I need to get a wrasse or two, they add so much movement to the tank

[ExpertMarine]

The great thing about Calerpa is that it binds together better then chaeto so it doesn't tend to dislodge and float around the DT. I hear it can be very invasive to the DT though. I had to put a pad on the divider to try to keep the little strands of Chaeto from ending up in the DT. My returns also have strainers to catch most of what gets past the pad.

You're on the right track...



Well I picked up some caulerpa algae and stuck it in the sump. Not sure how good caulerpa is... I wanted chaeto but I think the guy at the LFS had no idea which was which. I only noticed till I got home.
So far so good anyway! It's tumbling away in the sump. I'm hoping to change it to chaeto soon anyway.

I'll leave the live rock in because I have so much live rock and no where to fit it in the display :S

Here's the final rockscape. Can't wait to transfer the corals :thumbsup:

[dianapickles]

The great thing about Calerpa is that it binds together better then chaeto so it doesn't tend to dislodge and float around the DT. I hear it can be very invasive to the DT though. I had to put a pad on the divider to try to keep the little strands of Chaeto from ending up in the DT. My returns also have strainers to catch most of what gets past the pad.

You're on the right track...

Gosh, as soon as I looked up caulerpa I went into instant panic mode. Considering so many strands got into my DT. I ended up putting egg grate on the baffles and spending forever netting out the strands that got into my DT.

I should be fine with some teeny tiny strands in the DT right? I went through a dinoflagellate problem once and I never want to go through something like that again. I hate tank invaders :( I'll definitely put something on the return.

[ca1ore]

Caulerpa is best avoided (particularly taxifolia, which is on the global 100 most invasive species list). It also tends to suddenly die off.

[dianapickles]

Caulerpa is best avoided (particularly taxifolia, which is on the global 100 most invasive species list). It also tends to suddenly die off.

Well I think the type I have is prolifera. It's the closest I can ID it to. Only difference is that the blades are so short and not long like prolifera. I'm guessing because it's dying off as it looks pretty bad right now. Lots of clear strands floating around. Been trying to net any stray pieces.

The tanks cycling right now so I'm hoping once I get my yellow tang, fox face and coral beauty in there, they'll get to work on any stray pieces. My tang is a total pig!

[mastersonr]

Saw this old thread and had a question. I just cleaned my sump and removed a lot of built up detritus. I have just added a ball of cheato with a small powerhead to keep it slowly turning. I had some live rock rubble in there that I scrubbed well with some water I have just removed during a water change. How safe would it be to move them to the display tank? I have a few bare spots I could fill in but don't want to create an issue by moving any unwanted algae into my DT.