Adding Macros

[twentyleagues]

If you want to try it get some of the cheaper black box ones off amazon. Just make sure you can adjust intensity set them at a lower intensity to start and judge from there. Just know Tangs and angels will probably eat it, the butterflies will probably pick at it too.
Maybe look into the Noopsyche lights quite a few people use them and like them. For a reef capable light I think they are pretty cheap too. Might be more then you need though. You could get a better light for half the tank and leave the other half lit with original.
I've got 2 marineland 125s one I have set up with original lights that came with it. I dont think they would be all that different. I had anubias ( low light fw plant if you dont know) growing on the rocks. Those lights were not even strong enough to grow that well, anubias will grow in a bucket in ambient light from the room.

 

[Subsea]

My dream would be a nicely colored dragon’s breath and something blue like hypnea for some nice contrast!

If that is your dream macro tank, then forget adding fox face or tangs.

Also, macro consume nutrients much faster than most corals; especially nitrogen & sodium.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Also, macro consume nutrients much faster than most corals; especially nitrogen & sodium.

Sodium?

 

[Sophie"s mom]

I also wouldn’t mind the (eventual) tang going for the macro since it’ll help vary their diet. Are there any other things I should look out for in terms of keeping the macros healthy/growing?

That is what I do. Some macros are calcareous, and therefore will not be eaten, while others are not, and herbivores can and will eat them. I choose to get a little of both, so I am helping the nutrient export, and feeding some of my fish something different.

 

[Subsea]

Sodium?

Trinity Aquifier at 1000’ had a TDS of 900ppm with
Na @ 55ppm
K at 14ppm
Ca at 130ppm
Mg at 102ppm
NO3 < 0.1ppm
SO4 at 189ppm
Cl at 34ppm
CO3 < 1ppm
HCO3 at 346ppm
Total alkalinity at 283ppm
B at 0.33ppm
Total N @ 2ppm
Total P < 0.01ppm
Total Fe @ 0.02

@Randy Holmes-Farley
I can’t find the 10 year old seaweed analysis from Ward Lab yet I remember that for Gracilaria Parvispora (Red Ogo)

Nitrogenhosphorus ratio was 30:1
Nahosphorus ratio was 90:1

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Trinity Aquifier at 1000’ had a TDS of 900ppm with
Na @ 55ppm
K at 14ppm
Ca at 130ppm
Mg at 102ppm
NO3 < 0.1ppm
SO4 at 189ppm
Cl at 34ppm
CO3 < 1ppm
HCO3 at 346ppm
Total alkalinity at 283ppm
B at 0.33ppm
Total N @ 2ppm
Total P < 0.01ppm
Total Fe @ 0.02

@Randy Holmes-Farley
I can’t find the 10 year old seaweed analysis from Ward Lab yet I remember that for Gracilaria Parvispora (Red Ogo)

Nitrogenhosphorus ratio was 30:1
Nahosphorus ratio was 90:1

Still not sure what you mean by macroalgae consuming sodium faster than other things. You really mean sodium, not phosphate?

yes, there's a small amount of sodium inside organisms, but less than in the same volume of seawater. All organisms exclude sodium and chloride from seawater relative to their internal concentrations.

 

[litsoh]

If you want to try it get some of the cheaper black box ones off amazon. Just make sure you can adjust intensity set them at a lower intensity to start and judge from there. Just know Tangs and angels will probably eat it, the butterflies will probably pick at it too.
Maybe look into the Noopsyche lights quite a few people use them and like them. For a reef capable light I think they are pretty cheap too. Might be more then you need though. You could get a better light for half the tank and leave the other half lit with original.
I've got 2 marineland 125s one I have set up with original lights that came with it. I dont think they would be all that different. I had anubias ( low light fw plant if you dont know) growing on the rocks. Those lights were not even strong enough to grow that well, anubias will grow in a bucket in ambient light from the room.

So would something like this:

KZKR

Or this:

Hygger

Be sufficient? Normally what kind of specs should I be looking for

 

[twentyleagues]

So would something like this:

KZKR

Or this:

Hygger

Be sufficient? Normally what kind of specs should I be looking for

I cant see the 1st one but the hyrrger may work fine.

 

[Subsea]

Still not sure what you mean by macroalgae consuming sodium faster than other things. You really mean sodium, not phosphate?

yes, there's a small amount of sodium inside organisms, but less than in the same volume of seawater. All organisms exclude sodium and chloride from seawater relative to their internal concentrations.

I assume consumption rate of sodium is faster considering that the concentration of sodium is 90:1 compared to phosphorus as opposed to a nitrogen to phosphorus ration of 30:1 in Red Ogo seaweed. I don’t know what those ratios are in coral, I do know that seaweeds consume much more nutrients than a similar volume of coral. I can double the biomass of Red Ogo every 20 days.

@Randy Holmes-Farley
Because my Maraculture permit was zero discharge, the TDS was 26,040ppm

Na @ 9227ppm
K @ 428
Ca @ 393
Mg @ 1266
CaC03 @ 6258
N03-N @ 0.9
S04-S @ 1067
Cl @ 16,800
C03 @ 39
HC03 @ 119
B @ 3.12
N @ 5
Total phosphorus @ 0.02
Total iron < 0.01

 

[litsoh]

I cant see the 1st one but the hyrrger may work fine.

Oh weird, here's the link for the first one KZKR

 

[twentyleagues]

Oh weird, here's the link for the first one KZKR

Ok I see it now. Could have been because I was at work...seems weird its working now. I really screwed up Hygger!
For the price between the two I'd go hygger but take a look at these.

 

[twentyleagues]

Nicrews have been around a while. If you need to have a strip light I think its better then the other two more bells and whistles. The other is just a more powerfull light would be capable of growing some corals dimmable. Some macros need as much light as corals.

 

[litsoh]

Ok I see it now. Could have been because I was at work...seems weird its working now. I really screwed up Hygger!
For the price between the two I'd go hygger but take a look at these.

I wouldn't necessarily need to get the strip light to go from end to end on the tank, right? So since my tank is 72 inches I can center those strip lights and still get enough lighting

 

[twentyleagues]

I wouldn't necessarily need to get the strip light to go from end to end on the tank, right? So since my tank is 72 inches I can center those strip lights and still get enough lighting

Yeah probably. Put the macro right under the lighting.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I assume consumption rate of sodium is faster considering that the concentration of sodium is 90:1 compared to phosphorus as opposed to a nitrogen to phosphorus ration of 30:1 in Red Ogo seaweed. I don’t know what those ratios are in coral, I do know that seaweeds consume much more nutrients than a similar volume of coral. I can double the biomass of Red Ogo every 20 days.

@Randy Holmes-Farley
Because my Maraculture permit was zero discharge, the TDS was 26,040ppm

Na @ 9227ppm
K @ 428
Ca @ 393
Mg @ 1266
CaC03 @ 6258
N03-N @ 0.9
S04-S @ 1067
Cl @ 16,800
C03 @ 39
HC03 @ 119
B @ 3.12
N @ 5
Total phosphorus @ 0.02
Total iron < 0.01

I cannot imagine any scenario where macroalgae growth reduces sodium in any detectable way. Even if you deplete 1000 times more sodium than phosphate, taking out 0.03 ppm of phosphate will only drop sodium from 10,800 ppm to 10,770 ppm.

 

[GARRIGA]

Might be more pragmatic to have an external Fuge for the macroalgae and then feed the tank getting both the benefits of lowering nutrients, removing co2 and providing a plant based diet. At least if tangs are involved. If dead-set on adding to display the dragon's breath is beautiful under blue lights but I ended up going pom pom because they grow faster. Not a fan of green as I'd just get a FW tank but Ulva does grow the fastest from what I've heard. Could set those up externally and when enough produced add to display and hopefully it grows faster than consumed. Could also overfeed to keep fish not interested and all that foliage likely consumes all the excess nutrients created by overfeeding. Just simpler to run a Fuge.

 

[litsoh]

Tangs would be a nice addition but my stocklist is very much still open to changes. An external fuge is definitely something I would ultimately want for the tank as well, but I also want macros in the display to add color into the scape. If that means no tangs or an adjustment to feeding schedules then that's not a dealbreaker for me. But yeah worst case I could also have the fuge serve as an "in case of emergency break glass" colony if I do decide to gamble with a tang

 

[twentyleagues]

Tangs would be a nice addition but my stocklist is very much still open to changes. An external fuge is definitely something I would ultimately want for the tank as well, but I also want macros in the display to add color into the scape. If that means no tangs or an adjustment to feeding schedules then that's not a dealbreaker for me. But yeah worst case I could also have the fuge serve as an "in case of emergency break glass" colony if I do decide to gamble with a tang

I feel tangs will eat your macro regardless of the feeding schedule they can be piggies. The big Naso we had at the lfs would get fed 3-4 times a day, If you put any macro in with him he'd eat it right away, and his nori was always refilled. He didnt get to 15+" and have long beautiful streamers by not caring for him.
There are macros that herbivorous fish wont readily eat. Most of the calcareous algaes like ( forgive me im going to mix and match scientific and common names) Halimeda, mermaids fan, shaving brush, pinecone, caulerpa cuprissioides, I dont think they like Codium either but could be wrong . These are all nice looking macros, they do need you to keep up on alk and calc. I find the "hard" algaes more difficult to keep, but I know others that have no issues and didnt do half what I did on my reef tanks.