melev

The most frequent question I get is "What type of macro algae is that in your refugium?" It's feather caulerpa (C. Sertulariodes), and I've been growing it for at least 8 years. I've used a few others, but this one has been the dominant one. From time to time I'll pull a few handfuls out, usually when someone needs some. I thought I'd clean it up but noticed the tiny pods, bugs and other items so instead I grabbed my camera.

Here's a close up of a single blade and some of the life nearby. I spy a tiny flatworm, a very pale aiptasia, and a collonista snail in this first image, as well as a filter feeding calcified tubeworm. I've been seeing these same flatworms in the frag tank as well as the refugium, but they are crazy tiny, nearly invisible. The specks are so small I had to watch them to see if they were moving or if it was little spots of algae on the glass. These flatworms are not the kind that we usually concern ourselves with, so I have no need to remove them or treat the system to eradicate them.

These hairs on front wall turned out to be alive as well. Using the macro lens with a full set of extension tubes I could see tiny fibers coming from several focused points. I'm guessing these are a type of hydroid. Normally I scrape the front surface clean to see into the refugium, hence this type of stuff would be ripped away and have to grow elsewhere.

A few Orange Ball Anemones live in this zone. The orange foot is on the front wall, so you are looking through the foot. The critter is facing away from the lens. Look at the curlycue innards. Pretty neat.

In this next image, note the patch of white dots. Those are snail eggs, likely collonistas. There's a collonista snail 2" beneath them, and the pictured tips of two Orange Ball Anemones gives you a sense of scale.

Some fan worms filter feed quietly. Most of them are near the spot where the nutrient laden water pours into this zone.

This is part of a larger patch of encrusting sponge. It's intricate and looks 3D, and has been growing quietly for some time.

It's fun to take some time to really study the refugium area. As I watched this next feather duster spin its crown slowly 360°, I waited for it to stop to get a picture. It didn't hold still, so I had to use a flash to capture it.

My refugium has been running for three years, and really needs to be cleaned out and reset, because there is a thick layer of detritus on the sandbed. However, the reef is doing well so the only reason I want to do it is for aesthetics. It just looks messy to me.