Light on or off in refugium

[Spechty37]

Hello I was wondering if I should leave the light on all the time in my sump/refugium and also why am I getting brown algae all over in my refugium it all over my sand bed and now it's starting on my glass

 

[Ingy]

One of the main attractions to a sump is the ability to grow algae down there to consume nitrates/phosphates. Of course we would prefer it to be the easier to manage Cheato algae, but really, any algae works. Are you sure it's not diatoms forming? I had them on the glass as well when my tank was first set up.
I run my lights for 20 hrs, off for 4 hours during the day.

 

[SaltwaterNuB]

I run my refug light from 6p-4a. Everything down there seems happy. When no one is home I try to leave cabinet open for good are flow. Hope this helps.

 

[Spechty37]

I think it is diatoms if it is what do I do about it if anything

 

[Spechty37]

My DT is about 9 months old and my sump is less than a week

 

[SaltwaterNuB]

I think it is diatoms if it is what do I do about it if anything

Diatoms can be cause be a number of things, bad bulbs, not enough circulation, tap water, just depends. Good luck. Hope you get to the bottom of it.

 

[Spechty37]

I figured tap water I'm 99 percent sure that's what it is I just ordered a ro/di should be here in about 4 or 5 days and then another couple days to hook it up and get some good water thank you

 

[SaltwaterNuB]

That's usually the #1 cause. I buy premixed saltwater and rodi water from my lfs. They have 1/2 off Fridays. Cheaper than me mixing my own water.

 

[Spechty37]

Maybe I will buy water for my top off until I get my filter thanks

 

[Ingy]

Diatoms are caused by silicates. chances are it comes from the sand, and will eventually be consumed by the diatoms (which are in turn consumed by the CUC). I seriously doubt you have sicates in your water. It will go away over time (a few months)

 

[SaltwaterNuB]

Diatoms are caused by silicates. chances are it comes from the sand, and will eventually be consumed by the diatoms (which are in turn consumed by the CUC). I seriously doubt you have sicates in your water. It will go away over time (a few months)

You ever heard of changing sub out every 2-4 years?

 

[Spechty37]

Thanks and no I didn't know that either you mean everything like sand and rock

 

[SaltwaterNuB]

Thanks and no I didn't know that either you mean everything like sand and rock

No I was just asking Ingy. It would just be sand, that's what a lfs told me

 

[chbix]

Once you get Ro/di water then I would just do a series of water changes.

I had a diatom bloom at about 3 months. That's even using Ro/di from the start. Water changes and clean up crew should take care of it in time

 

[Greenstreet.1]

When my DT lights go are open the refugium lights are close.

 

[Ingy]

No I was just asking Ingy. It would just be sand, that's what a lfs told me

I'm not sure what you're asking me. But there are 2 main types of sand used in tanks; coral based sands and rock based sands (PFS). Although they both have silcates in them, only the first can be exported to the water from the very soft mineral base while the second has the silcates bound very tightly in the mineral structure of very hard rocks (granite). Most common aquarium sand will cause a diatom bloom eventually because the diatoms can absorb the silicates. Then they die and are eaten by the CUC or corals and again become part of the structure (except a good portion gets exported thru your skimmer).

Diatoms have nothing to do with water quality. Changing your sand every few years will likely cause a new diatom bloom unless you switch to a harder sand.

 

[Mebbid]

I've been running my refugium light 24/7 since I put grape caulerpa in it and have been having a ton of success with it.