making my refuge

[RyanG]

You should just need light, you can go cheapies here. You got $40 bucks for two parrots???????? How big were they? Musta been monsters!

[Bifferwine]

Go with a macroalgae called chaetomorpha for the fuge. And whether you use sand or mud is up to you.

[jcegt87]

Originally Posted by RyanG

You should just need light, you can go cheapies here. You got $40 bucks for two parrots???????? How big were they? Musta been monsters!

well yeah not exactly for just them 10 for each plus i took them back the blenny my poor gobe was so scred of em so i just took him back

so full credit for the blenny(20) and 2 chiclids (20)

and im gonna be usinf just some spare 10 gallon lights form my moms old setup (yeah she finnaly upgraded to my 30 lol)

[jcegt87]

Originally Posted by Bifferwine

Go with a macroalgae called chaetomorpha for the fuge. And whether you use sand or mud is up to you.

yeah i heard about chato wasnt sure what it was for thought thank you biff

[fatman]

I am partial to 5 to 6 inch deep sand beds of sugar grain sized (0.5 to 1 mm) oolitic aragonite. Chaetomorpha (Chaeto or Spaghetti) macro algae is most commonly grown as there are less problems with it coloring the water. I would recommend Chaeto if your going to run a light cycle opposite your display tank light cycle for control of pH and dissolved oxygen when the main tank lights go out at night. If you are mainly concerned with nutrient export through algae growth and pod and worm etc. growth then run your lights for 24 hours per day in your sump and grow a caulerpa algae instead as it takes up more nutrients as it puts on more mass in the same amount of time. The 24 hour light cycles eliminates its other problems.

[jcegt87]

could i add some cheato later into my fuge

also im still not decided
any benefits from using eighter sand or mud ( besides sand being WAY cheaper)

[bjohanson1234]

The sand is cheaper and will help buffer if you use aragonite sand. The mud will release some beneficial trace elements into the water. You could have the best of both worlds and split it and have two sections one with mud and one with sand. You can add the cheato any time.

Brian

[fatman]

The percentage of people using mud in comparison to sugar fine (0.2 to 0.5 mm in diameter) Oolitic Aragonite sand is very small. The Oolitic Aragonite sand will provide trace elements as will the mud. Any body that has had a deep sand bed for any length of time will tell you that it disappears at a rate of 10% to 15% per year. Neither will supply trace elements or dissolve at shallow depths, however the mud being a smaller grain size can be a thinner bed than the fine sand. Coarse Aragonite or calcium carbonate substrates will not supply trace elements or calcium. The mud supports a lot of life forms that are present in lagoons rather than on the reefs. Until more people start stating they have had good long term results with mud I would avoid it. Mud isn't really all that appropriate a name for the stuff being used in mud beds as it is still more mineral in content than organic. Mud is really partially decomposed organics, where as fine minerals are silt or clay. So basically your talking about a choice between fine and extremely fine Aragonite in general.