Refugium questions/help

[Beano1169]

I have a small 2.7 gallon pico, its been going strong for like 25 days now. Diatom bloom is in full spread but the Cuc take care of that. My issue is I am recieving some frags today and will be cleaning my filter out abit before they show up. I am curious if I take out my "feather caulerpa"(which shouldnt be there anyways was told it was macro algae) will I have any spiking in the tank seeing as how they are a nitrite and nitrate soak?

The filter is a Aquaclear 30 fuge mod, with ac foam, 100ml purigen bag, LR chunks not really rubble, and that feather nonsense. I'm worried if I remove the caulerpa my tank will spike and murder my frags

[gobytron]

Caulerpa is a macro algae.
With a system this small, anything can cause a wipe out.
Taking out the caulerpa could cause a spike but it's unlikely.

[Beano1169]

gah ok well maybe Ill wait it out untill I get a less invasive type of macro algae. I just dont wanna cause that wipe out you speak of. Could cleaning the filter cause that? I doubt it but likeliness? by cleaning the filter I mean just dumping it out reconfiguring the fuge lay out and replacing the foam

[Snaz]

If the filter media contains a significant portion of your de-nitrifying bacteria then removing it could cause a crash. If your frags arrive today I would advise not to clean it. If they are coming in a few days then do it now.

[Beano1169]

they do come today, when do you think would be a good time to clean it ? cause to be honest it has been on there since start up, well the bio junk has been it was prob 2 weeks got purigen and new foam went in.

[Snaz]

Originally Posted by Beano1169

they do come today, when do you think would be a good time to clean it ? cause to be honest it has been on there since start up, well the bio junk has been it was prob 2 weeks got purigen and new foam went in.

Wait a few days until after the frags have settled before making any changes I wound advise.

[Beano1169]

thank you very very much!!! and if anyone was following my old thread my nem is doing much better and since its getting colder out there the temp has stabilized as well!!!

[hillegom]

You should be cleaning your filter out every 3 days or so. To keep detritus in there for long only allows it to degrade into nitrate. you want to get rid of the stuff before it decays.
Do not wash the filter in fresh water. This would kill all the bacteria in it. Wash it with water taken from your tank. Then replace that water with new saltwater.
Mini water change.

[reefwars]

i have some macro thats not invasive and very slow growing its a display macro and not very good for nutrients. i also have several oter types of sump macro which is good for export but you dont want it in your display. if you want some of either send me a pm and ill cut you some

[reefwars]

very unlikely that feather caulerpa will hold enough nutrients to crash your tank, you cant be possibly running all that much in a hob filter. if its in your display tank your screwed feather caulerpa is very invasive and hard to get rid of in small tanks.

swapping out mature cheato with your caulerpa would be ok.