cleaning the refiguim?

[rthompson14]

Starting to get a light film on the surface of the water, looks like some black hair algae(maybe just very very dark green) on the sand bed and on the wall of the refiguim...

Should i clean some of the hair algae and leave the rest? or is algae growth in the refiguim good no matter what kind it is?

thanks guyyssss

 

[Gasturbineguy]

I normally grabbed any loose stuff and left anything too tough to get at. That way you can gauge water parameters e.g. when algae dies off etc... ya know you're going the right way with nutrients.

 

[rthompson14]

ok so black algae is dead algae....which i would remove...and the just means everything is good right?

 

[lbiminiblue]

ok so black algae is dead algae....which i would remove...and the just means everything is good right?

black? Possibly very dark green hair algae, which would indicate over feeding, or something else like high phosphates. I would remove it and toss it. It could mean something is slightly off in your tank. Do a water test and keep an eye out for growth in the main tank.

 

[SantaMonica]

black algae is dead algae

No, not at all. It's just an indicator of high nutrients.

But generally, you don't want food particles collecting in your sump because they will rot and put nutrients into the water. When they settle in the display it's ok because they are feeding the CUC.

If you are having nutrient export problems, keeping the sump clean will help.

 

[lbiminiblue]

You can put CUC in your refugium too

 

[whippetguy]

I have several hermits in my refugium, some xanthid crabs, turbo snail, and a couple of whelks. Mine is a display/nutrient export refugium.