My sump is a horrible place...

[Beej1254]

I'm not proud or happy about this. But I am asking for guidance. My DT looks great. Especially after adding new lights and rocks. However...my sump or more specifically the refugium has been looking like this for a very long time and it's got me concerned. In the picture below you can see how overrun it is with algae. My chaeto seems to be doing nothing except being another surface for algae to grow... and it's all got me worried that something bad will eventually happen. I feed once a day in the morning and it's usually gone within a minute. My refugium light is always on and it's an 6500k Aqualighter Nano that the LFS said would be great for my fuge. I haven't seen any growth or benefit for a month now.

Everywhere I look people say that this is what a sump is for and just clean it out every so often. But I have pods/amphipods that I don't want to wipe out.

My nitrates are at 10ppm according to API master test kit. But my phosphates are 0. I read today that this slime can hold phosphates so test kits won't be accurate.


I'm looking for guidance so I can correct this problem or if it's even a problem at all. Thanks.

View attachment 278905

 

[agfish12]

Can't view the picture


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[Reefing Madness]

Unable to open attachment.
But, sumps, fuges are supposed to look nasty and growth all the algae, thats exactly where you want it to grow.
You should trim back your chaeto from time to time to make room for growth.

 

[Beej1254]

Sorry let me try again. And I'm not sure my Chaeto has ever grown. but it hasn't died either. I've noticed it sheds though.

Also my refugium is very low flow. and it's deep. I was thinking of adding a DSB or a block of marinepure to it

 

[agfish12]

Looks like Cyanobacteria on the walls. Just scrape it off and siphon it out. Other than that it's not too bad


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[Sniperhank]

Looks just like my refugium until I built my ats. It might not be pretty, but that is quality nutrient export right there. Even hair algae is a macro algae.
Adding things to your setup to make it look prettier negates the purpose and more sand will only limit the amount of algae you can grow!
If you want things neater, try to block the light from your baffle walls...but if it isn't clogging it up it isn't a problem. This is where I used to harvest my algae during the weekly water changes.
So, in conclusion, nice looking sump.


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[PassengerTN]

The phase "Function over form" works well here.

Jesse

 

[Beej1254]

well I feel a 100 times better now. The biggest concern I had was it spreading to my DT. I normally add water to my sump after water changes because it's lower and easier then the top of the tank. this usually kicks up a bunch of this algae and I just don't want it to take over.

But now I feel much better about how my fuge is looking and functioning.

Thanks everyone for the quick replies

 

[Sniperhank]

No matter what water changes happen from the sump...or whatever the lowest body of water is.
If the algae is appearing in the display, then I would want to look at my nutrient levels. Algae needs three things to grow, one is nitrates/phosphates to eat. If the fuge is maxed at what it is doing, you will see it in the display as well.


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[Beej1254]

Great knowledge and thank you for again for the advice

 

[Reefing Madness]

Put a powerhead in there, keep the water movement up, and you will see less of the garbage.

 

[jeffaquarius]

I would leave the sump alone if DT is doing fine. That is how sump should be. The algae absorbs the nitrate while the cyano produces oxygen when lights is on during the night.