Refugium Methodology?

[wmam]

What is it and what are all the variables in producing the right one for the tank you have?

[Guest]

1st off ... decide what benefit or goal your refugium will provide.... .and go from there

[wmam]

O.K. ..............

Lets say we want it to export Nitrate.

[Guest]

then deep sand bed and/or algal scrubber

both of which you need a large tank for a fuge to be efficient in mal-nutrient removal

Guy has done studies on this... seems as if a deep sand bed needs to be at least 2sq/ft to function as a de-no3er... and you have to have a huge fuge to grow macros in to be able to prune them (this is the actual removal of nitrate) regularly in large masses. maybe he will offer his .02c

small fuge for no3/po4 removal... a xenia fuge works... but isnt for the inexperienced xenia keeper.

[wmam]

Yes I would be interested in what Guy had to say about it as well as more on the Xenia fuge.

[Arime K]

The Xenia fuge is what I'm working up to. I have a few frags from steve that are growing quite well in the display tank. My ? would be how much xenia would you need to make the fuge work for say a 100 gal system mixed reef ?
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Arime K

[Guest]

i had a crashed 50g tank.. that sat in its own filth for a coupla months before i restarted it... rocks were completely dark green... cyano everywhere. i moved that tank upstairs to my bedroom, did a 20g water change, and put a cluster of a xenia stalks in it.... they spread to about a foot by foot section on the rockwork and completely cleaned the tank on their own. no skimmer either. in fact.. i ran that system skimmerless because the sump was tough to get a good skimmer in. i rarely did water changes and i kept that system clean as a bell.

once again.. have to talk to bang.. .but per its mass... xenia sequesters MUCH, MUCH more no3/po4 than any macro

i used to get rubble from the fish store and trade out rocks in my xenia fuge for store credit about every 2 wks.

[Guest]

here is that tank about a month after i started to clean it up... yuo can see the patch of xenia at the top

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[Guest]

same tank 3 months later

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[Guest]

this shot was the beginning of running a xenia fuge on my 55g sps frag tank.. this fuge is 10g... chaeto and blue ochtodes to the right... xenia to the left.... the xenia would eventually starve the ochtodes and chaeto and take over the fuge

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[Guest]

later....

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[Guest]

another

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[TimmyG]

Very interesting Kip,
What would you one put into a xenia fuge?
A sand bed xenia and lights?
Would anthelia work as well?
What type of lights would you need?

[Guest]

[TimmyG]

[quote="Kip"]

[wmam]

Ok. I've kept my big mouth shut long enough while watching my thread produce some useful info............

?..........

Now explain what you meant by "but isnt for the inexperienced xenia keeper"

[gettingfeisty]

I am going to jump in and say that xenia can actually be rather difficult to keep if your water parameters are not maintained?

Is this correct?

[wmam]

I would agree with that statement as well but it would be true of alot of other things that you would already have in your tank.

I'm thinking there's more to the statement by Kip other than just water quality.

[Guest]

if you arent confident with your xenia skills it can be tricky

a xenia meltdown isnt a good thing

[wmam]

Ummmmmmmmm.....................

As I thought.

Please explain in-depth.

[TimmyG]

[Guest]

man... do i have to write an essay in every reply?

yeah... if you can keep xenia well its a weed


keeping xenia isnt an exact science (as far as i know)... some people are just good at it.. and others arent

they like a little "poop" in their water.. but too much will kill them
there seems to be a relationship with pH and dkh to to their pulsing.... mine do well at pH 8.2-8.4... dkh 8 or above.... but they dont like rapid changes in anything... in fact dosing can make them shrivel up

and contrary to popular belief, they dont need iodine supplementation.... i almost killed a "xenia field" once by dosing lugols at half recommended amount and every 2wks instead of 1. iodine can build up fast in some tanks.

[TimmyG]

[wmam]

Yea... I'm with Timmy.

I thought you loved it.

I mean should we go ask questions somewhere else? LOL J/K

Look you are the Man with all the answers at this forum and we demand the answers. All the answers damnit!!!!!! LOL

O.K. ...........

I'll go ask the question over at RC.........Oop's I forgot.......

I don't like it over there........ I'll guess I'll just have to go through life not knowing some shit all because Kip doesn't feel like explaining it to us dumbasses that don't understand short answers and need a book to explain simple shit.

SORRY FOR BREATHING!!!!!!!!


LOL

[Guest]

dont make me smack you

also remember... i am not a phD in reeftank keeping

"question the answers"