Hair Algea in Minifuge

[pokerfish]

Hey Guys,
I converted an Aquaclear 500 into a mini refugium a month or so ago. I've got live rock rubble in there and the cheato is growing pretty good ( does better once i trimmed it to a smaller ball). My question is whether or not to remove hair algae that is growing from the rock? It's getting pretty long but not causing any problems....I am still dealing with substrate bubbles and an algae bloom (brown dust on sand), after getting a t5ho light fixture and have performed two water changes (taking members good advice) My nitrates have dropped from 40 to less than 20 and I plan another 20% change this weekend...I'm thinking about adding some mushrooms this weekend...is that OK? I wanna see something growing other than my cheato...I have two oscellaris clowns (doing great) and am holding off on adding any fish, but am considering options if all goes well....

 

[Bifferwine]

Algae in the fuge is no problem. It is taking up nutrients just like the chaeto.

 

[pokerfish]

Sweet! Thought so...when can I expect to see critters? Been runnin it for over a month with a 24/7 grow bulb ...or do I have to introduce them? I don't even know what a pod is or if you can see them at all (lol)...

 

[little_fish]

Im not sure what critters you are looking for, but if you are talking about pods, it takes about 6 months for them to really populate a tank.

And you can add some mushrooms if you like, they do well in new tanks that still have some nitrates.

 

[pokerfish]

Cool, gonna check out LFS for mushrooms and compare to online prices...dont know what critters to look for...or expect...just whatever happens naturally that is good for the tank...

 

[little_tuna]

My tank has been up for about 3-4 weeks now and i have copepods EVERYWHERE! All over my glass, sand and HOB fuge. They have just about trippled their population in this past week. Im also seeing amphipods floating around her and their as well. If i didnt know what they were before, i would think my tank was infested