dust looking material in my refugium?

[davidmaguirre]

Hello I have a 29 gallon biocube and I made a small refugium in the second chamber in the back.. I've got some leds that are equivalent to an 80 watt light.. my chaeto is staying in a small pile and I've got greyish dusty waste looking stuff gathering in the refugium and by the return pump and I add water through there so the new water has a little time to mix and get to the right temperature but when I add water the waste material goes all over and into the tank what should I do? Should I take out water when I do my water changes from the refugium? Please help?

 

[mr_X]

that's detritus. i would vacuum that out with a siphon hose with each water change.

 

[melosu58]

It could be one of several reasons but yes I would try to siphon it out during a water change.

 

[davidmaguirre]

Ok but some of it is on my live rock what should I do and how do I stop it? Also what's causing it?

 

[mr_X]

it's a mixture of a lot of things- uneaten food, fish poop, other organics...
Detritus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

i would blow off the rocks with a power head or even a turkey baster and vacuum as much out as possible with each water change.
there's nothing you can do to stop it, but if you increase the flow in the dt, particulate matter might be suspended in the water column long enough for your filtration components to remove it.