rossco Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 Hi folks I'm a newbie trying to do things better...doesn't take long to get hooked does it? I'm looking at creating a refugium (higher than the tank) that will overflow into the tank and provide more biological filter. What are you thoughts on trying to grow things like caulerpa taxafolia or prolifera in the refugium? And if its a good idea where do we get some from to start our plantation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 Hi Rossco Refugiums are cool. I have a 740 litre refugium powering my tank on reverse lighting, and other 200 litres in complete darkness. Populated with rock, sand (DSB), calurpa and a few corals (frag grow out). I am currently in the process of removing ALL of the calurpa from my system. I am finding that I need to prune the calurpa every 3-4 days, which is a MAJOR hastle, and given the benifit I have decided not to bother. Also calurpa can cause water discolouration (yellowing of the water), not everyone reports them problem, it is certainly present in my system and I use carbon to remove the tiniting. As for biological filteration, the real benifit for the Refugim is to provide a. more water volume over the entire system b. provide pods etc to feed the main display tank. My own refugium is TEAMING with life, covered in pods, worms, mysidd shrimp etc. They are not nessessary but are a lot of fun and very cool. I would reccomend it for anyone who can fit one in. NOTE: You talk about Calurpa Taxifola, which get some press in the US a few years ago. Keep in mind the Taxifola is on the Noxious Plant list and should be considered, especially by MAF. So no-one has Taxifola here in NZ Calurpa Racemosa is readly available and the best of the calurpas i've tried, because its easier to remove than the other types. Still though like i've said, the novelty has well and truely worn off and I will not be using it again. Good luck. Pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 taxifolia is a noxious weed if you want some caluerpa stop by one day and i'll give you some (not sure on the type). refugia( ) are great for growing pods and having macro algae ect however i wouldnt reccomend them as the primary form of filtration but as a nice bonus. the rock in the tank and a good skimmer will do the grunt work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 This is the caleurpa that i can give, its in special jimmy's tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossco Posted October 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 Thanks for the feedback Pie and Brian... Might give the taxafolia a miss...will be too hard to 'roundup' it in the tank! So I thought growing 'plants' would be better than having algae orgies turning my water 'white' - is letting just the additional biological filter do its thing better still? I thought I had a decent size tank (90g) until finding Pie's refugium is twice as big! Who would ever want a maintenance free SW tank? Would give us no excuse to play with it! What IS the divorce rate amongst SW tankers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 What IS the divorce rate amongst SW tankers? not that high, you need a stable relationship to support the tank. So I thought growing 'plants' would be better than having algae orgies turning my water 'white' - is letting just the additional biological filter do its thing better still? a good skimmer and high water quality will prevent algal blooms. I have talked to a few people keeping marine tanks with only cannister filters or very small skimmers that will think their setup is adequete untill they visted my tank and realised their water was quite murky/cloudy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossco Posted October 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 Yup, and I am now one of them! (striving for better water quality) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 an upstream refugium is much better than a downstream refugium, most only do downstream as they cant fit the upstream above their tank or if they can, its an eye-sore. i have an in-wall tank so have contemplated putting in a small 180 litre upstream refugium above my display and having a portion of the return flow going to this. this would be specifically for breeding pods to gravity feed the main tank. im about to split my current (320 litre) refugium in half, either with baffles or egg-crate and have macro algae in the first half and LR/pods/frags in the 2nd half. there are certainly some types of caleurpa that are much more painful to keep than others. i think racemosa (which almost looks like weed with small grapes on it) is easiest as its large and easier to trim. grows extremely fast though. the smaller calerpa (smaller intertwining type) is stringy and if you get it growing into your live rock, you will never fully get it out. it sticks like s@#$ to a blanket! have a go with racemosa, it cant hurt - but as pies says run carbon to keep up good water clarity (or zeovit ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 zeowhat??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted October 28, 2005 Report Share Posted October 28, 2005 The zeovit system uses carbon. Calurpa Racemosa is the one pictured in Briananemones pic in this thread. Not wanting to dig up another debate, doesn't really matter where the refugium is, nor is there really any evidence that they work or are benificial, although it stands to reason they are, the can work against certain systems (BB Berlin method wants heavy skimming, so more water volume full of bugs, sand and weed is not going to help). Pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossco Posted October 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2005 Just when I thought I knew most of the stuff in my tank someone mentions 'pods'! A quick search here reveals 'pod-mania' I goin pod hunting tonight.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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