Refugium maintenance

[rickh]

I have a small refugium with a massive ball of algae floating in it. The algae is green, the levels are good, but I am wondering if I should reduce the amount of algae?? I have heard people say you should trim back the algae to get the nutrients that were absorbed from the water to grow the algae "out of the system". But the larger the mass of algae, the more nutrients it will require to maintain it self. So do I trim, or let it grow?? R

[bergzy]

for me, trimming my macro back allows:

- better circulation through the mass of macro...resulting in more nutrients it will absorb

- better light penetration to the center of the mass of macro

these two factors alone will grow your macro faster.

a large mass of macro will

- help with pH shifts if you light it on a reverse main light cycle. this may be true but most of our refugiums are so small...i have yet to see an impact of this. leaving your skimmer on at night will do a better job at this.

- looks really cool to us reefers

- absorb more nutrients at a given time BUT: need a constant and regular amount of nutrient to feed the monster. if you starve macro...caulerpa may feel the need to go sexual (very bad) or chaeto will just wither and die on you (ask true zeovit users how their macro does when their system becomes absolutely nutrient free). either way...you are releasing nutrients back into your system that your macro has worked so hard to remove.

i keep mine trimmed nice and neat in a pretty small bundle.

hope this helps in some 'remote' way (get it? for those with a remote refugium...hahaha...ah, nevermind). ;)

[Gobie]

Being on a reverse light schedule may cause yellowing of your water depending on what algae you have. Trimming the algae allows for more growth and waste assimilation. I keep my refugium lit 24/7.

[Reefdaddy1]

So do I . For the last 5 years I trim alot and never had yellowing in the tank, But then again I never run a skimmer, so, the morale of the story is trim it and keep it lit,

[rickh]

Thanks for the info. Everything looks fine now. I hate to mess with it. R

[Jim_S]

I just pull a couple of hand fulls of chaeto out once in a while and run it on a reverse light period.

Jim