Neptune Aquatics

Replacing Macro Algae with Corals in the Sump?

fishy408

fishy408

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Has anyone completely removed their Macro Algae and replaced them with easy-to-grow corals in the sump? If you have, what are the positives/negatives?

Possible thoughts on positives/negatives

Positives:
  • At the end of the day the preference is to grow Coral vs Macro Algae.
  • Less strain on nutrients. Currently dosing 4-5ML of p03/n04 daily to keep measurable numbers (.02p, 13n)
  • Half cube of Mysis/or Brine/or Reef Nutrition mix and 2 auto feed of TDO pellets feeding 4 damsels, 1 clown, and 2 cardinals.
Negatives
  • Fishes are small currently but with growth, they may demand more feeding which can lead to not enough nutrient export
  • Corals not surviving in the sump.
 
Only thing I have heard of were people growing xenia in their sumps for nutrient control. I don't think it caught on or was just a short trend. I think one of the concerns was too much risk of them getting into the display and spreading.

G
 
I don't think growing corals will be as efficient for nutrient control. However, I know of multiple people who do grow corals in the sump (essentially a frag tank on a shared system). Seems to work for them. And corals of course do uptake n and p, just slower

Macroalgae release DOC, which may have an effect on bacterial populations (elevated DOC is linked to increased percentage of virulent Vibrio and decreased percentage of beneficial Pelagibacter -- and vice versa) so I'd be curious to see aquabiomics results before and after a few months of the switch. Although the tests are pricey
 
tribbitt said:
I don't think growing corals will be as efficient for nutrient control. However, I know of multiple people who do grow corals in the sump (essentially a frag tank on a shared system). Seems to work for them. And corals of course do uptake n and p, just slower

Macroalgae release DOC, which may have an effect on bacterial populations (elevated DOC is linked to increased percentage of virulent Vibrio and decreased percentage of beneficial Pelagibacter -- and vice versa) so I'd be curious to see aquabiomics results before and after a few months of the switch. Although the tests are pricey
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Thanks! I look into DOC. I also worry about corals not being as efficient as macroalgae, but the current system is using more p/n than my normal feeding.
 
dangalang said:
Do you have macro algae so you can run it on a reverse light schedule to raise pH at night or for nutrient export or both?
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Both! I want to be in the habit of dosing P and N because of Dinos. For the past couple of weeks, dosing increased from 2ML a day to 4ML a day because P was reading at 0. It was consistently .03 to .05 for the past 3 months. The biggest change was shifting from AFR to Kalk, which crease PH, ALK consumption, and probably P and N consumption.
 
fishy408 said:
Both! I want to be in the habit of dosing P and N because of Dinos. For the past couple of weeks, dosing increased from 2ML a day to 4ML a day because P was reading at 0. It was consistently .03 to .05 for the past 3 months. The biggest change was shifting from AFR to Kalk, which crease PH, ALK consumption, and probably P and N consumption.
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I'd try taking the macro out because it's exporting too many nutrients and then dose your kalk at night time only (if you aren't doing so already) to replace the pH boost you would have got with the macro on reverse light schedule.

I like the idea of corals in the sump because you have a place to put more corals :p.

fishy408 said:
Negatives
  • Fishes are small currently but with growth, they may demand more feeding which can lead to not enough nutrient export
  • Corals not surviving in the sump.
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Hopefully your corals grow along with your fish and would consume the extra nutrients!
 
I had Xenia in my sump. Main downside relative to macros is it's very easy to toss out macros. It's a pita to toss out Xenia off rocks. Looks cool though.

I had no issue with it traveling into the tank.
 
I’ve tried converting part of my sump to a frag tank, which is similar to your question. It kept getting overrun with nuisance algae and eventually killed the nice coral I had there one by one. Was too difficult to keep algae in check with the smaller size.
 
derek_SR said:
I have coral growing in my sump but not for nutrient control purposes.

But why on earth are you growing macro if you have to manually add N and P?
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Besides oxygenation and pH stability, there are likely more benefits I haven't discovered yet. Macroalgae play a role in many successful tanks, and I prefer to follow proven methods. On that note, I also run a protein skimmer!
 
JVU said:
I’ve tried converting part of my sump to a frag tank, which is similar to your question. It kept getting overrun with nuisance algae and eventually killed the nice coral I had there one by one. Was too difficult to keep algae in check with the smaller size.
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Are you sticking with macroalgae?
 
fishy408 said:
Are you sticking with macroalgae?
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Yes, I gave up on the corals in the sump a couple years ago. I currently have the long refugium part split in 2 between chaeto and Burning Bush. The BB not only looks way nicer (under regular reef spectrum lights), it is growing better actually. Maybe because it is upstream so it gets first crack at nutrients/flow? Or maybe the BB releases something that inhibits the chaeto. The BB also seems to fend off pest algae better than the chaeto does.
 
Ive run a kessil 360 over the sump with softies football sized rocks of xenia ,,mushrooms leathers with no issues for a long time but had a hard time with algae on the sps down there even with a powerhead/cucs. Not sure how how much macro algae your growing but may want to take it out slowly and not all at once so doesn’t upset the balance..
 
JVU said:
Yes, I gave up on the corals in the sump a couple years ago. I currently have the long refugium part split in 2 between chaeto and Burning Bush. The BB not only looks way nicer (under regular reef spectrum lights), it is growing better actually. Maybe because it is upstream so it gets first crack at nutrients/flow? Or maybe the BB releases something that inhibits the chaeto. The BB also seems to fend off pest algae better than the chaeto does.
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I had both in the same chamber and the chaeto died off after being really effective for years.
 
PjFish said:
Ive run a kessil 360 over the sump with softies football sized rocks of xenia ,,mushrooms leathers with no issues for a long time but had a hard time with algae on the sps down there even with a powerhead/cucs. Not sure how how much macro algae your growing but may want to take it out slowly and not all at once so doesn’t upset the balance..
Click to expand...
I use BB as well, it grows pretty fast. Started as a baseball and grew to a volleyball size. Made the mistake of removing half of it at one time, and nutrients spiked. I hate throwing these away since they are so nice looking. My tank is only 40g so can't house a tang, what other fish would eat it?
 
Some might say that a sump is not intended to house corals. A lot of PH issues seem to come from dirtier sumps, and keeping them clean makes it harder if you keep corals (or a refugium) in it. Growing them inside the display is much more useful, and if successful, you might get low nutrients and have to dose nitrate and phosphate. But seems like you already have this issue. My advice, let the sump be a sump, complete your plan to remove the macro algae from the sump, and grow corals in your display tank.
 
Alexander1312 said:
Some might say that a sump is not intended to house corals. A lot of PH issues seem to come from dirtier sumps, and keeping them clean makes it harder if you keep corals (or a refugium) in it. Growing them inside the display is much more useful, and if successful, you might get low nutrients and have to dose nitrate and phosphate. But seems like you already have this issue. My advice, let the sump be a sump, complete your plan to remove the macro algae from the sump, and grow corals in your display tank.
Click to expand...
Sometimes hard to see all that sump real estate sit empty with no returns lol
 
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