refugium in sump tank

[wilfran]

Hi Reefer

I have a sump tank wif 8"x 15" as refugium.wif 18 watt pl light.

but my plant(fern type) is not growing neither they are dying.

i being keeping the light on for 48x7 , is this right?

please advice.

[Reefbum]

What is 48/7?

[blueheaven]

think he ment 24/7

[wilfran]

mean 48 hour x 7 day. in other word is alway light on.

no off.

[wilfran]

Thank Bro

yup, i mean 24/7 lah.

[mUAr_cHEe]

not growing prob to low nutrient level lah....

might be.... if they are not dying or going asexual.. relax dude.... no problems... no fret....

[wilfran]

hi bro Muar Chee

the regugium is already bout 2 month , i set it up cause the

no3 is very high.

any advice from any expert ? pls help.

[Reefbum]

Maybe lighting not strong enough.If what I know is correct, anything green needs a lot of light.

[kareen]

I think the light is not strong enough also..... I had about 50 watts (32 +22 watt) of FL lighting on my 1 ' refuigm area, 24/7.

[lightningstrike]

Hi Reefer

I have a sump tank wif 8"x 15" as refugium.wif 18 watt pl light.

but my plant(fern type) is not growing neither they are dying.

i being keeping the light on for 48x7 , is this right?

please advice.

since it is neither growing nor dying, what's the worry here? do u want ur caulerpa to turn sexual instead? or do u want ur caulerpa to grow like wildfire, indirectly pointing to the high nutrient content in ur water?

dun fret bro, juz let it be. maybe the growth is unnoticeable at this point of time.

FYI, i used to hv my 1x1x1ft refugium having chaetomorpha powered by only an 11W 6700K PL light, and it grew so much so that i hv to prune every other week. so that tells u the lights r enuff and the high nutrient load i had.

[wilfran]

to all that have given me advice.

Bro lightingstrike,so shall i keep the light on for 24/7 ?

tks

[lightningstrike]

to all that have given me advice.

Bro lightingstrike,so shall i keep the light on for 24/7 ?

tks

u can try either 24/7 or reverse photoperiod.

reverse photoperiod: main tank lights on, refugium lights off & vice versa.

[kareen]

** lightingstrike **

I was told or read somewhere that only when calerpu grow then they are taking in the nutrient level..... I used to have only 11watt of PL and there is no or little growth till I increase the lighting level...... BTW, I have lower nitrate reading when there are more growth.

[wilfran]

Bro Lightingstrike

I'll just keep the 24/7.

thanks

[lightningstrike]

** lightingstrike **

I was told or read somewhere that only when calerpu grow then they are taking in the nutrient level.....  I used to have only 11watt of PL and there is no or little growth till I increase the lighting level......  BTW, I have lower nitrate reading when there are more growth.

hi kareen,

shld be the other way round right? macroalgae takes in nutrients from the water to fuel their growth. a good example will be like a vehicle; no petrol, how is the car gonna move?

lighting primarily is a source for plants to conduct photosynthetic activities. i wld say both nutrients and lights r juz as impt as each other.

it is only logical that ur nitrate levels r lower coz ur caulerpa is taking in nutrients such as PO4, NO3, etc from the water. thus the growth. there is no hard and fast rule into setting up a macroalgae refugium. flow thru rate, lighting, type of macroalgae used, etc shld be optimized till u achieved the end result which u want, which is to reduce nutrients in water.

wilfran,

what is ur nutrient level like now? namely PO4 and NO3. is there a significant reduction in levels b4 and after use of refugium? specifically what kind of macroalgae u r using? growth of macroalgae varies with species too.

[wilfran]

hi lightingstrike

before setting up of refugium , my nitrate level is like 100.but have not been

checking it for the last month.will check and keep your inform.

I'm using calerpa(like fren type) in the refugium