Algae in Refugium

[crystalz]

A refugium/sump has been my greatest upgrade along the way. My tank is a drilled 77 with a 30gal sump/fuge. My sump was a DIY project that turned out great. first compartment has the drain outlet heaters ...three baffles (down up down).Next is a 12 by 12 by 18" fuge full of a couple different kinds of macro algae (including chaeto), live rock, only about half an inch of sand and a 10K t5 grow light(96watt I think). Chaeto seems as though it doesn't 'root in' but it looks like it does when it is close enough to the sand bed . That fuge is full of copas and tons of different kinds of micro-organisms.Next is my skimmer compartment. I find even with a fuge it is a good idea to have a skimmer I still end up with a full collection cup every few days . The big benefits I've seen are that I am no longer needing weekly or at max bi-weekly water changes. Now I test my water every 2 weeks and just doing bi-weekly changes just to keep my water pristine. After the skimmer compartment is three more baffles (down up down). The only mech filteration I have is one coarse sponge, a sheet of filter floss and a bag of carbon in my pump compartment which is the final compartment after my skimmer(then back up to the main tank).And on the topic of miracle mud ... I considered it, but now with my refugium working as well as it does I'm glad I didn't spend the money. I just went with a very shallow sand bed and I think that keep the sand 'turned up' better... No detritius build up at all.