refugium assitance

Question
QUESTION: well t.j i have a problem. lol

i have a 75 gal. saltwater tank, about 7 months old. got about and inch of live sand under 2 inches of crushed coral. about 60 lbs. of live rock with moderate coralline algae coverage. some hermits, snails, and 5 emerald crabs. one snowflake eel, and a blue moray.  along with 2 damsels.lights are 2 6500k,and 2 blue actinics "48 inch"

i have a coralife 120 gal. protein skimmer running, inside a 20 gal. long DIY sump/refugium, this is my tank.

my problem is that for about 3 weeks already, i have had my chaeto lose it's color since i bought it. my nitrates are pretty high around 40-50ppm since i haven't done a water change recently. i have about and inch of live sand in my refugium area with a couple of small pieces of live rock and of course the cheato i mentioned. the lighting for the refugium is a 6500k flood light on an aluminum hood reflector and clamp that i have it running for about 15 hours a day.opposite of my tank lights. the live rock has some red-ish flower growing on it, which i dont believe is bad, but some of my cheato has turned a grey-ish transparent color. and i dont know why this is happenning, instead of growing, it seems like it is dying.

i also have some bubles coming out of the live sand in my refugium, with some redish crust on top my live sand.

so i know you must be confused right now, since i believe i've been typing randomly. so these are my questions...

1.) my cheato not growing/losing its color

2.) the bubbles and redish crust on top of refugium live sand.

3.) the growing red flowers on live rock

4.) will the skimmer help reduce nitrates?

many thanks in advance :)

-chris

ANSWER: Hey Chris.

in order-

1) your lighting is good, how much flow does the chaeto have? i think its needing more flow and thats why its losing color

2) the crust is algae, which could be fueled by the nitrates. i would do a large water change to help combat the algae. it should go away with good water

3) are the red flowers resembling red tuffs? if so, it sounds like cyano, which is caused by overfeeding, not doing water changes, and phosphates. just like the crusty algae on your sand, doing a large water change will help keep this down too

4) skimmers take out orgainic matter and therefore reduce phosphates. the best cure for nitrates is keeping up with the weekly water changes

in short, doing  a 50% water change one day, waiting a few days, doing a 30% water change, then keeping up with the weekly 10%-20% water changes should fix most of your problems :)

good luck!

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: 1.) im not sure how much flow, i got a 1 inch drain from my overflow. do you mean adding like a small powerhead in their for it to recieve more waterflow to the cheato? or do you mean water more flow through my system?

2.)i'll make sure to do this.

3.) they are more like branches, buting of each other red in color.

4.) ok thank you

one other thing i have a question about is my skimmer placement. where do you believe is the best place to put my skimmer. in the first area of my sump, middle where my refugium area is, or last where my return pump is.

p.s  i currently have my skimmer pump it in last chamber with return pump because the skimmer pump is more powerful that my return, therefore placing it in the front will not let any water reach my return chamber. maybe i need a new return pump? any recomendations? mag 5 maybe?

Answer
yep, for the chaeto, i would just add a extra powerhead for it, you would just need a small one like a Koralia nano

as for the skimmer, i would add it in the first area of your sump or the refugium area, whichever fits best

you should be able to have your skimmer anywhere. it doesnt matter if its pump is larger than your return pump, with gravity my sumps return pump is about 90gph, but my skimmers pump is 250gph. im guessing your skimmer is in sump. all you need to do is add some extra water to the sump for what the skimmer will always have in it, and thats it. the skimmer doesnt not affect the sumps overall volume in any way after it is running