Calling Red Mangrove/Refugium users

[Anonymous]

My delimna...billions upon billions (maybe a little exaggerated)of bubbles that make there way back to the tank.

The RSB skimmer is the culprit for sure. When I turn the venturri off, the bubbles all but completely disappear from the tank. I have tried rigging all sorts of things to reduce them, but just can't win the battle. The ultimate goal is a bigger better setup, but I have to work with what I got for now.

Here is my thinking. I remove the skimmer. The tank is 55gal. 60lbs. Fiji rock, 2" Gulf live sand and a sump below.

I then put a small container within another container in the sump and put a few Red Mangrove in the container. I then put a small Rio50 pump in the sump to push water into the other container. Maybe throw some caulerpa in there for good measure? Then rig a 9w light under the stand above the mangrove to run about 10hrs a day.

I don't have any space for a John Rice setup, so let's not go there.

Do you think a few mangrove and caulerpa in the sump would be able to replace the skimmer's function. I only have two little fish, one is a Royal Gramma. Some snails and crabs for algae control. Plan on just having mostly corals, soft easy to keep for the most part and a couple of hard corals that are easy to keep and the two fish.

Would the 60lbs. rock, live sand, and mangrove and caulerpa handle the load and functions in place of the skimmer/rock/sand setup?

You can check out the current setup at http://web.tampabay.rr.com/lazydasy/keithreef

Thanks for any input,
Keith

 

[Anonymous]

I am thinking of doing the same thing, but I would suggest leaving the skimmer, or a skimmer, in place, simply because the refugium will be less able to export some neutrients (notably surfactants and other similar goo). Some people suggest that skimmers are not necessary, but I think some form of mechanical filtration would have to replace it, and then you generate loads of nitrates. The rock itself will keep your skimmer busy in the absence of any fish.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply Flounder.

I got the idea from www.coraldynamics.com

Not sure if you have seen the Mangrove page. They don't use skimmers, only Red mangrove and some macro algae, and a plenum. Of course, I don't see any live rock or sand, so that is my difference.

This darn bubbles thing has to stop!!

Thanks,
Keith

 

[Anonymous]

About the bubbles... We built a sump with a series of baffles to reduce the bubbles caused by our ETS skimmer. We glued several acrylic sheets about an inch apart, cut to fit inside the Rubbermaid bin we use as a sump. This forces the water to go over and under the baffles before getting to the holding area where the return pump sits to pump water back to the tank. This gives the bubbles time to float to the top and out of the water. We had tried other methods first, but none worked This method has been working for over a year. Now, when bubbles start to appear in the tank, we know it needs to be topped off.

What exactly is your Refugium question? I have a Refugium on another tank, along with an Algal Turf Scrubber, and no Protein Skimmer. The Refugium gets more algae than the rest of the tank, but is fairly easy to clean, being right there on top. I just keep Caulerpa and other algae in it, no mangrove yet. I also keep Spaghetti Worms, Mysis and many other little critters that can be seen shooting around. This tank needs more algae cleaning of the glass than my other three Reef Tanks with Protein Skimmers, but it also has MH so that is part of the problem. The most important removal of wastes happens in the Scrubber. The Refugium is a 'refuge', for safety of the little critters who would otherwise possibly be eaten to oblivion in the main tank. Now, they occaisonally get in by swimming over the Refugium overflow vents, but mostly stay inside and breed like crazy. This just ensures a constant supply for the tank. Hope this helps.

 

[Anonymous]

Well, I am going with a Red Mangrove setup under my stand. After reading articles by www.eparc.com on Mangrove, talking with www.coraldynamics.com and reading some Thiel articles on it, I am convinced it will replace the skimmer. If not, I will find out.

The plan is to setup a couple gallon sump that will gravity feed back into my exisiting sump where the skimmer previously sat. I have tried several things to dissipate the bubbles, but that damn RSB needs a monster seperate sump and time for the bubbles to dissipate. My setup just isn't big enough to accomodate a big sump. I don't remember having these problems the first time I had the system setup, but I can't get rid of them.

Anyway, my bio load is relatively low, almost nonexistent. I have a Royal Gramma, about 40 Astrae snails, and about 20 crabs. The skimmer is hardly removing anything at this point and I turn it off during the day.

If you visit my we site you will get an idea of the limited space I have to work with, but I can make it all fit, along with a couple of lights and a fan for cooling and circulation.

I ordered 6 Red Mangroves from www.floridaplants.com John Rice bought his from them and they have nice roots, and leaves and are hydroponically grown. They are only $4 each. Plus the $10 shipping, and taxes since I live in Florida.

If you see my website over the next few weeks, I will start documenting the process of converting the stand area to the Red Mangrove filtration method. Should be interesting

Thanks for the input.

Keith http://web.tampabay.rr.com/lazydasy/keithreef