Macro Garden Update

FishRfriends

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So here's the update! it's been about 2 months since I turned a section of my sump into a refugium. I started with a few pounds of sand and a few pounds of live rock for surface area. I then purchased a couple different species of copepods from a local reefer to up my diversity along with 2 pieces of pom pom red algae. BTW I had no idea what I was doing.. pretty sure I still don't.

This tank was done cycling Jan 3 and 2 fish were added. Lighting schedule is 15/9 full spectrum and is 5" above water.

JANUARY 27TH
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Fast forward a few days later, I received my mosaic macros order! Grape caulerpa, suction cup green algae, orange Galaxy and the bird's-nest.

JAN 30TH
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FEBRUARY 18TH
I started noticing a small difference in the DT when it came to GHA and other nuisance algae not by much but it was a lot easier to blow off the rocks. That's one of the main reasons I started this garden as I didn't want to see the "new tank syndrome" ugliness as the tank is very young. At this point brown algae was out competing my macros so I tweaked my DT light schedule and used a baster to blast the brown algae off my green macros. They were the only ones effected.

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MARCH 28TH
It's incredible and I would have never thought I would enjoy watching this ecosystem thrive.. I love my display tank but I honestly spend most my time in the floor watching my sump.. 😂😂
I've seen brittle stars, plenty of tubes and I have a butt load feather dusters some pink and red in color. Really hoping they get to be big 🤞🏼



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Honestly I haven't been testing exact readings as I'm using API test strips. So I couldn't give you specific numbers. I only use master test kits if I have corals or something doesn't look right in the system. I have noticed I can go longer without a WC at least another week. But I can say phosphates have been super low in DT. I'm seeing a blowup of Coraline algae which blows my mind bc I've never been able to get Coraline growth within the first couple months of starting a system. Mind you I did use a few pounds of seeded LR with little Coraline. The only filtration or media used in the sump outside of the garden is filter floss which I change every 2 days. I was using a skimmer but was unreliable. I'm sure removing the skimmer helped the algae grow as there's more nutrients available.


Meanwhile this is the DT 😂 they definitely contribute to the growth
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