I am planning on having a 55gal fuge for my 120 display, with chaeto, ulva and gracilaria. As well as a second fuge which is a 29 gaI with mangroves. I dont want to run a skimmer. Would this be enough for nutrient export? Will chaeto remove phosphates as well as a scrubber? Will a scrubber kill the growth of the macro?
Fuge vs scrubber
- Thread starter Variko
- Start date
Reef Nutz
Reefing newb
Scrubber does a better job overall of exporting excess nutrients from your tank than a fuge with Chaoto and macro. But some have success with it. Most that run the scrubber have 0 everything, while the fuge will sometimes run a very low amount of excess.
Reef Nutz
Reefing newb
Xenia like dirty water, so to speak. A Scrubber makes the water to clean for them. Clam will be ok. LPS and Softies like alittle dirty water also. SPS are the ones that need prestine water conditions. You'll be ok with a Fuge.
Reef Nutz
Reefing newb
:beerchug: . WOW, thats gonna be one clean Display Tank.
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BL1
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Your putting xenia coral in your fuge?
BL1
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Just because they thrive in "dirtier" water doesn't mean they pull nitrates out ofthe water.
wontonflip
I failed Kobayashi Maru
I think it's a preference to use a fuge or a scrubber. I, myself, have used chaeto in my 45g and always had 0 nitrates....unfortunately, I had such a low bioload anyway, that eventually my chaeto died off LOL The chaeto in my 125g is thriving. I would love to set up a scrubber, but I'm frankly too lazy. ;)
BL1
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The people that have made these claims, what were their other forms of export? I can tell you from actual first hand experience that it does not work this way. In my 28 I have no form of filtration other than weekly water changes. Recently I went 2 months without doing a water change, and my hairy mushrooms exploded (another coral that thrives in dirtier water). My nitrates rose steadily from 0-40 in that period even as the colony grew bigger it did not slow down the rising nitrates. If you really feel it necessary to have them in your sump then, that's on you but it won't do anything for your nitrates. You're also going to need to buy a light fixture that will support corals for the Xenia where as you can get away with just a household CFL bulb if you're just keeping macro in your fuge.
I never said the xenia will be my ONLY source of nitrate removal. This tank(s) will have chaeto gracilaria ulva mangroves codium and maybe a few others as well. Some of these pull nitrates rapidly, some slow and some middle of the road. Your mushrooms pulled nitrates out of the water, but they didnt do it faster than the bioload produced it. Those mushrooms with some help from cheato or ulva may have handled the load. I wouldnt expect 0 nitrates if i ran simply xenia or mangroves or codium. They dont use nitrate as fast as chaeto does. For consistent long term removal, you need macro/plants/corals that use nitrate at different rates. This 55 fuge is gonna be gorgeous with the macro and xenia. And completely functional.
The thing I was most concerned with was the sucess people have had with Chaeto vs a scrubber. How fast can chaeto pull out phosphates and nitrates. From everything Ive read, chaeto will be plenty fast for the little bio load that I will have, and the lack of sps. My sand beds will pull out nitrates as well. 5" in the DT and about 3 1/2 in the fuges. Sugar sized oolite. Im hoping to find that grain size in pink. If I want to try sps later I will do another tank and have a scrubber on it. I may have to add a big fat moray to the fuge to add some nitrates to feed my shrooms and xenia :P
Reef Nutz
Reefing newb
:beerchug: .
BL1
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I never said it was your only method of export, I did ask if the people that made these "claims" to you had other methods. And clearly there is more than one way to do things but, I was giving you advice from my actual observations and experience to try and save you time/money. But, obviously you have everything under control with all your experience in the hobby bud :Cheers:
Reef Nutz
Reefing newb
Well, there is the other way. Much easier than having all those things to watch. Carbon dosing..... aka Vodka Dosing. That is one means of getting Trates to 0.
I see 2 problems with me using the carbon dosing method. Id srew it up. And it would be one for the tank, one for me. Before you know it my tank would be my drinking buddy and my family would have to intervene lol. Seriously though how does this work out for you is it hard to regulate? It seems to be a very controversial method. Give me your input on it please.
BL1 I must say man, youre kinda negative and a bit critical man. Imagine what your nitrates might have been if the mushrooms werent there. Hard to say exactly how much those mushrooms absorbed, but I bet it helped. Does Xenia grow faster than mushrooms? If it does I bet it will absorb nitrates faster than mushrooms. When i see people on the forums with a bare bottom tank with heavy protein skimming, I think hmm not for me. I do not however tell them they are wrong. Their animals may be doing spectacular. Change happens when people have a problem. If i set this tank up with the macro, chaeto, mangroves and xenia, and I have a nitrate problem that is effecting my DT inhabitants, I will add a scrubber immediately. If I changed my mind and add a messy eater I will add a skimmer. No worries this is just a hobby. The important thing is I would be willing to do whatever is needed to keep my pets happy and healthy. This is my first sw tank. This is not my first aquarium. I have sucessfully kept and bred frogs, who can be every bit as delicate as sw fish. Ive kept plenty of fw tanks. I have post poned getting this tank for the last 8 years or so, because of working too many hours, and then the birth of our first child. In that time Ive read everything I could get my hands on. One thing I am very excited about is the changes that I see happening right now. 2 years ago algae scrubbers were considered not something for the normal hobbyist. LED's were laughed at. This hobby has evolved tremendiously in the last 20 years. Im glad to finally have the finacial resources and more importantly, the time, to get into the ring.
Eddie
