Refugium problems - help!!

[stevesfl]

I have a small glass refugium sitting in the sump of my 75g reef tank. Refugium has been setup fpor approx 75 days, and is powered by a small powerhead. I have 3 or 4 varieties of macroalgae, along with 4" of sand, and some live rock in the refugium. The fuge is lighted by a 13w 50/50 PC and a plain 12" flourescent bulb.

I seem to be getting red slime buildup in the fuge, as well as a green slime at the water surface that attaches to the macroalgae.

The macroalgae doesn't look too good either.

Is my problem the lighting? Any other ideas?

TIA

ss

 

[Anonymous]

I don't believe its unusal to have this type of problem in a 2 1/2 month old fuge. I also don't think that having cyano in your fuge is necessarily a problem, either, except that it may eventually snuff out your macroalgae.

You appear to be developing a nice amount of macro and nuisance algae in your fuge. This means, in general, that all of those extra nutrients in your main tank will be consumed by your fuge algae. And that's far from being a bad thing, IMO.

I am hopeful others will weigh in on this. Personally I don't think its a big problem for you.

Chris

 

[Anonymous]

Spot on, Chris!

He's right, nutrient export is the issue, but as long as the cyanobacteria remain in the 'fuge you should be golden.