Adding fuge questions

[Flyboy450r]

Hi guys Im going to add a fuge to my reef tank already have a sump set up. Just pulled out my skimmer and got a hob one and going to put a fuge in its place. I've had cheato and it did not do well before but I want to try again. I'm planning to use a dsb and my worry is adding 10 or more pounds of sand will send my tank into a cycle. I plan to pick up some live rock rubble and cheato also. But I'm not worried about that. Only other question is I have a 6500k light my cheato did not do well under last time should I just pick up a cheap 60w cf light or try my old bulb again. Just going to use a clamp on light.

[Original Fin]

I think the real trick with lighting on a new batch of Chaeto is acclimation. I've tried a bunch of different lights too and for me the little cf's with a reflector have worked the best...in the 3500-6500k range. Even still, you want to start off with a real short photoperiod like an hour or two, and add another hour every day till you get to 12. If you have space to raise and lower the light, even better.

A drip acclimation wouldn't hurt either. I've got to wonder if some of these macros are susceptible to water quality shock the same way that fish and corals are.

I had the same concern about adding the sand, but it had no effect on my tank. I added a 20lb bag of caribsea to my 20g sump on a 55 display which has another 60 lbs of sand in it. No spikes, but I was very careful to slowly add water and let the fines settle out before connecting it to the main tank and running it.

[Flyboy450r]

Ok well thats a good idea. I will do just that. Just let everything settle out. And I'll turn my skimmer on and let it take the scum off the top then fire up the main pump again. Thanks for the advice. Mike

[Original Fin]

You bet. Hope to see some pics when you get a chance.

[Flyboy450r]

Just added 10 pounds of live sand to my sump. Rinsed it five times or so before I added it to my sump. Turned of my main pump and its still pretty cloudy. That was 15 minutes ago I'll keep you posted. I'm going need ten more pounds in order to have a dsb. And I wont be able to add much live rock. Is it more important to have the dsb or lr? Thanks Mike

[Flyboy450r]

Let the sand settle out turned on pump clouded the He** out of my Display Tank.

[Original Fin]

How much flow do you figure your fuge is handling? Is the sand bed reasonably protected from blasting current? For example, you wouldn't want sand in the compartment that your overflow drains into...it would just continuously kick it up. There should be some sort of bubble trap or baffles seperating the overflow area from the fuge area from the return pump area. Is yours set up like that? Have any pics?

Please keep us posted on those test results. Out of curiosity, what brand of sand did you use? Some are reported to contain more silt than others.