Reef Central Online Community

Go Back   Reef Central Online Community > General Interest Forums > New to the Hobby
Blogs FAQ Calendar Mark Forums Read

Notices

User Tag List

Reply
Thread Tools
Unread 02/16/2020, 08:25 PM   #1
Zpmada
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Phillipsburg, NJ
Posts: 95
Should I clean my hang on back refugium?

I have alot of algae growing in my hang on back refugium. Should I clean it?

The chaeto is now growing out the water. Should I throw half away?

Thankfully the display tank looks pretty good with minimal algae (only growing on the heater power cable)


Attached Images
File Type: jpg 20200216_094349_resized.jpg (71.9 KB, 24 views)
Zpmada is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 02/16/2020, 10:20 PM   #2
Scrubber_steve
I'm really very likeable
 
Scrubber_steve's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Down Under
Posts: 676
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zpmada View Post
I have alot of algae growing in my hang on back refugium. Should I clean it?

The chaeto is now growing out the water. Should I throw half away?

Thankfully the display tank looks pretty good with minimal algae (only growing on the heater power cable)
Yes, you need to harvest some of the chaeto. Throw it in the garden.

The main purpose of growing cheato is to control the the level of po4 & no3 (inorganic nutrients) in the water.

the chaeto does this by assimilating the nutrients as a fertiliser during photosynthesis.

The nutrients become part of the plant matter. So removing some chaeto also permanently removes the nutrients from the system.

With the remaining half, tease it out so that it occupies all of the surface area of the compartment its growing in.


__________________
Create a Concept & Reality Leaves the Room.

Current Tank Info: Algae scrubbed.
Scrubber_steve is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 02/19/2020, 09:14 AM   #3
Michael Hoaster
Registered Seaweedist
 
Michael Hoaster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Boulder, CO
Posts: 5,807
Agreed. Chaeto is your export medium. You need to remove (export) some occasionally to export the bound-up nutrients it has taken up. Sorta like a skimmer cup. If you were to leave it in, and it melts down, it dumps all those bound-up nutrients back into your system.


__________________
As many naturalists and environmentalists have suggested, we should set aside our arrogance,
our desire to conquer and control everything, and walk hand in hand with Mother Nature. -Walter Adey

Current Tank Info: 180g Seagrass Sandbar Lagoon, START DATE November 28, 2018
Michael Hoaster is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:56 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2024 Axivo Inc.
Use of this web site is subject to the terms and conditions described in the user agreement.
Reef CentralTM Reef Central, LLC. Copyright ©1999-2022
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.