scum layer in refugium

my refugium has very slow flow through it. is this ok for cheato algae? also i have noticed a scum layer building up on the surface on the water in the fuge. do you all get this? i just through a koralia 2 into the fuge should i leave it or take it out?

 

My fuge also has a slow flow. I also skim the top also. I would take out the power head and try to skim from the top. A pic of your fuge would also help.

 

this is pretty common in slow flow fuges. i had it with mine becuase i dont have much surface agitation the way my baffles are set up. i put a small air stone in it and walahh no more scum

 

I solved that by cutting 5 1" teeth into the top of the baffle wall from the fuge to the return section. skims the top and gives the fuge a small directional flow.
My fuge flows about 13 gallons an hour.

 

Let the fuge be – scum is good, let it be too. You installed a swamp onto your fish tank to reap the benefits. If you start poking around you will mess it up and defeat the purpose. There is little pretty about a swamp, just let it be. Cheato likes fast movement but that doesn’t mean it wont grow in a slow fuge. I perk 10% of my display tank through my fuge per hour – this is tangsters recipe….and it works. I don’t do a blessed thing to the fuge except let it do its thing.

 

if its a light scum i agre with crimson but in my case it was blocking the light from getting to my macro algaes

 

ok wow i think im making it sound worse than what it is. its a very thin oily film. nothing that would come close to blocking light haha. ok so what im thinking is that its normal since it is low flow. im going to remove the powerhead from down there and just do what i have always done...flip the cheato over every few days. i should trim it a little to.....

 

Hello again. To be honest, if the light was being blocked by the surface of my fuge I wouldn’t even know since I don’t go near it….some how it all works. But I am fond of saying “what works for one isn’t necessarily going to work for another”. In my opinion a power head has no place in a fuge – but there are members here that do just that. You need to find what works for you and go with it – and of course share your experiences here with others.

If/when my calurpa (sp?) grows over the top of my fuge and into the next section I trim and stick it in the tank and let the tangs have at it. Aside from that I don’t trim – I am just one of those that want nature to do its thing.

 

If/when my calurpa (sp?) grows over the top of my fuge and into the next section I trim and stick it in the tank and let the tangs have at it. Aside from that I don’t trim – I am just one of those that want nature to do its thing.[/QUOTE]

I'm running caulerpa in my sump/fuge, which is a 20 gal Long divided into 3 equal sections about 10" long and 12" tall and a 4" sand bed using AragAlive sand and a clip on CF bulb that advertised 6500K.

I also get this slime type of film on the surface and at first I just left it alone, but then about 3/4 of my caulerpa died and I assumed it was because the foundation of the plant wasn't getting enough light because of the slime and plant canopy sheilding the lower level from getting the necessary light to survive.

I removed all the dead plant material and I plan on doing regular pruning to keep the "mass" of caulerpa deeper in the water, if thats possible. I'm just looking for any advice in this area to keep my "swamp" nasty and alive.