Refugium tips (formerly "flow rate thorugh a refugium")

[FishDad2]

FYI - I made some of the suggested modifications posted in the thread to improve my refugium's performance vis-a-vis Cheto growth and it's been a huge benefit! Thanks to all the contributors!!

I already had a Mag 9.5 pump on the fuge so I figured I had enough flow, but the water wasn't entering the tank in a way that generated the circular flow recommended to tumble the Cheto. The result was that the Cheto wasn't growing that fast and was being grown over by micro-algae. So, I made a spraybar and placed it so that the water entering the fuge shoots across from one side to the other just below the surface. When it hits the far wall, it's deflected downward then across the bottom of the fuge...generating the circular motion recommended.

I did have to place a row of rubble at the base of the far wall to keep the current from sweeping away the Miracle Mud, but that was no biggie.

This and switching from a 65 watt Coralife PC bulb to a pair of the 19 watt bulbs recommended in the link below (go all the way to the bottom of the page the comes up...you'll see the bulb I'm talking about) seem to have made all the difference in the world. The Cheto is growing like wild and the micro algae seems a distant memory.

fishdoc11 originally posted this link very early in the thread...gotta give credit where credit is due. Thanks doc!

http://www.melevsreef.com/fuge_bulb.html

[fishdoc11]

Glad it is workin for ya

The credit should probably go to Melev on that one.

Chris

[dendro982]

Free-floating Chaeto/Gracillaria and Maxi-Jet: small algae pieces are all around MJet's input grid/strainer.
What are you people doing to prevent this?