A couple of weeks ago I set up a 50 gallon refugium for a hundred gallon african cichlid grow out tank. I'm hoping to reduce nitrates and phosphates to a point where water changes become quarterly rather than monthly.
For me this is important because I want to maintain dissolved mineral levels in the system consistant with Lake Milawi without having to spend a lot of time and money doing water testing and chemical addition.
I'm using java moss and ghost shrimp for now, since I have a good supply of the moss from my 100 gallon grow out tanks, although it looks a little blanched from lack of light at the moment. The new growth is the characteristic emerald green of healthy java moss.
As you can see from the pix there is also a healthy crop of black weed beginning to develop from the moss that I had previusly woven onto eggcrate lattice.
At this point I'm not overly concerned about apearance, my goal being water quality enhancement from the 'fuge. Does anyone have any experience with this type of setup that can tell me if the black weed will overtake the java moss and destroy my refugium's positive impact. So far the set up has been very effective in lowering nitrates. I have yet to test for phosphate levels.
I run the lighting (100 Watts flourescant grow lights) 18 hours a day. Should I be using more or less light, for longer or shorter a period of time.
What kind of lighting favours the black weed (cyanobacter?)?
For me this is important because I want to maintain dissolved mineral levels in the system consistant with Lake Milawi without having to spend a lot of time and money doing water testing and chemical addition.
I'm using java moss and ghost shrimp for now, since I have a good supply of the moss from my 100 gallon grow out tanks, although it looks a little blanched from lack of light at the moment. The new growth is the characteristic emerald green of healthy java moss.
As you can see from the pix there is also a healthy crop of black weed beginning to develop from the moss that I had previusly woven onto eggcrate lattice.
At this point I'm not overly concerned about apearance, my goal being water quality enhancement from the 'fuge. Does anyone have any experience with this type of setup that can tell me if the black weed will overtake the java moss and destroy my refugium's positive impact. So far the set up has been very effective in lowering nitrates. I have yet to test for phosphate levels.
I run the lighting (100 Watts flourescant grow lights) 18 hours a day. Should I be using more or less light, for longer or shorter a period of time.
What kind of lighting favours the black weed (cyanobacter?)?