Stagnant refugium

[Shirtlessbill]

Hey all Was looking at my refugium this morning and was noticing that the surface layer of water is fairly stagnant. The only issue I see with this is about once a month I clean off a surface layer of algae. Now, my refugium seems very healthy so I'm really not worried about it but was wondering if there was a fix to eliminate the need for me to clean the surface. I was thinking maybe an air stone in the fuge just to keep the surface moving but wanted to see what you guys thought. Cheers

 

[melosu58]

What about increasing the flow. Not familiar with your set up though.

 

[Shirtlessbill]

I've done that before but in the end the difference seems to be minimal. Plus I like having low flow through my fuge, in my mind it makes sense to give the filtration plenty if time to do its work. However, I'm up for anything so maybe I'll try increasing the flow slightly again

My setup is fairly simple: HOB return with filter, to filter sock with skimmer in first chamber, fuge in second, and then return pump in third with ATO.

 

[Spankege]

Sounds like you need more surface agitation. Get a small power head and point it at the surface

 

[54seaweed]

Sounds like you need more surface agitation. Get a small power head and point it at the surface

wow you read my mind

 

[Phranque]

Just gonna say the same thing. You can still have low flow, but with higher circulation..... I've got a 29g remote refugium with lower flow, but I've got two hydor 1500's in it..... one pointing up for surface agitation & to keep flow through the chaeto, and one pointing down to avoid large dead spots within the rock. Not saying you need that much circulation, but a powerhead or two in there won't hurt a thing....

 

[jeffaquarius]

I use an airline tubing with air pump at my fuge providing enough water surface agitation without disturbing my copepods and algae.

 

[Shirtlessbill]

All good ideas. Thanks for the advice

 

[Mebbid]

The thing about flow is that all the nutrients in the water are in fairly equal concentrations. No matter how fast the water is flowing around your various removal methods the same amount of nitrate is going to be consumed regardless. Increasing the flow can speed up the process by preventing any dead spots that could occur in tightly packed areas.