Lettuce algae

Jase4224 · Mar 18, 2019

Anyone growing lettuce algae? I’m gonna try growing it in my sump, for a bit of fun and if successful to feed my tangs/angels.

It grows native where I collect sea water so gonna give it a go. There are other red algae’s that I might also try. Might even try the brown sargassum which I have grown successfully before.

AlgaeBarn · Mar 18, 2019

Jase4224 said:
Anyone growing lettuce algae? I’m gonna try growing it in my sump, for a bit of fun and if successful to feed my tangs/angels.

It grows native where I collect sea water so gonna give it a go. There are other red algae’s that I might also try. Might even try the brown sargassum which I have grown successfully before.

We have a lot of people successfully growing sea lettuce (ulva lactuca). Grows really really fast and may help repress the growth of diatoms and dinoflagellates. Are you looking at growing sea lettuce or stringly lettuce (entromorpha?)

Jase4224 · Mar 18, 2019

Good to hear. I’ll be growing Ulva sp. that’s the only one I have seen. Do you have any tips for growing?

I have a large area in my sump (2’ x 1.5’) with a Tunze prop pump in there for extra flow. The LED unit I’m building will have
8 x 660nm red
4 x 450nm royal blue
4 x white
40 watts total
I hope this works out ok.

I’ll also be growing chaeto for export.

AlgaeBarn · Mar 18, 2019

Jase4224 said:
Good to hear. I’ll be growing Ulva sp. that’s the only one I have seen. Do you have any tips for growing?

I have a large area in my sump (2’ x 1.5’) with a Tunze prop pump in there for extra flow. The LED unit I’m building will have
8 x 660nm red
4 x 450nm royal blue
4 x white
40 watts total
I hope this works out ok.

I’ll also be growing chaeto for export.

is the sea lettuce in big chunks (Like lettuce?) or is it in small width but long length pieces?

The spectrum and intensity should be fine, but how many watts (and what type of watts, leds, halides, etc) do you have over your display tank? You will want some sort of grating to prevent the sea lettuce from flowing over (it likes to float). A perforated piece of plastic will work well here. We are testing out some filter foam.

Jase4224 · Mar 18, 2019

It’s definitely like normal lettuce, I’m collecting water today so I’ll try to get a pic and post here!

My tank will have 3 or 4 Orphek 150cm LED bars at 84watts each.

Thanks for the tips I have sponge I can use to keep it in place!

AlgaeBarn · Mar 18, 2019

Jase4224 said:
It’s definitely like normal lettuce, I’m collecting water today so I’ll try to get a pic and post here!

My tank will have 3 or 4 Orphek 150cm LED bars at 84watts each.

Thanks for the tips I have sponge I can use to keep it in place!

If you are building your own fuge LED, you should probably try to size up the driver to be able to hit 100W, but then dim it down. You have a lot of wattage on the display tank, and comparatively small on the fuge.

Jase4224 · Mar 19, 2019

AlgaeBarn said:
If you are building your own fuge LED, you should probably try to size up the driver to be able to hit 100W, but then dim it down. You have a lot of wattage on the display tank, and comparatively small on the fuge.

Thanks for the advice that’s a good point, I’ll adjust my plans.

Here’s some pics of the lettuce algae. And what I believe to be sargassum floating but I could be wrong. There are some other brown algae and plenty of mussels. The mussels will serve as a tasty treat for my fish

AlgaeBarn · Mar 19, 2019

Jase4224 said:
Thanks for the advice that’s a good point, I’ll adjust my plans.

Here’s some pics of the lettuce algae. And what I believe to be sargassum floating but I could be wrong. There are some other brown algae and plenty of mussels. The mussels will serve as a tasty treat for my fish

Looks like Ulva Lactuca (sea lettuce). Any idea what that other brown algae is?

Sirwin007 · Mar 19, 2019

I posted this pic under the Algae Identify Forum, and one reply said maybe sea lettuce.
It grows on the sides of refugium, then peals off like paint and floats. It falls apart easily. It seems to be choking out my Chaeto, which I got from Algae Barn.

Jase4224 · Mar 19, 2019

Sirwin007 said:
I posted this pic under the Algae Identify Forum, and one reply said maybe sea lettuce.
It grows on the sides of refugium, then peals off like paint and floats. It falls apart easily. It seems to be choking out my Chaeto, which I got from Algae Barn.

I don’t think it’s Ulva sp. sea lettuce if it falls apart easily, even though sea lettuce is not ‘tough’ it still has some structural integrity. Shame about what it does to your chaeto

seaplane · Mar 19, 2019

I got a small bunch from Algae Barn a few weeks ago. They are so right , it is a fast grower. I never have much luck with cheato, but Ulva is fantastic. This is less than a weeks worth of growth under a cheap LED grow light, no idea of wattage !

Jase4224 · Mar 19, 2019

seaplane said:
I got a small bunch from Algae Barn a few weeks ago. They are so right , it is a fast grower. I never have much luck with cheato, but Ulva is fantastic. This is less than a weeks worth of growth under a cheap LED grow light, no idea of wattage !

Nice!! Ulva might be the new chaeto.. lol

seaplane · Mar 19, 2019

Jase4224 said:
Nice!! Ulva might be the new chaeto.. lol

I sure like it, but my Tomani Tang doesn't touch it

. Nitrates went from 20 to 5 in about 3 weeks, with adding the Ulva the only change I made.

AlgaeBarn · Mar 19, 2019

Jase4224 said:
I don’t think it’s Ulva sp. sea lettuce if it falls apart easily, even though sea lettuce is not ‘tough’ it still has some structural integrity. Shame about what it does to your chaeto

That is not ulva. It looks more like a nuisance bethnic algae.

AlgaeBarn · Mar 19, 2019

seaplane said:
I sure like it, but my Tomani Tang doesn't touch it . Nitrates went from 20 to 5 in about 3 weeks, with adding the Ulva the only change I made.

Have you tried putting it in on a nori clip? You may need to do a little training (maybe put some nori on there as well). The Biota Yellow tangs we get in (https://www.algaebarn.com/shop/captive-bred/fish/yellow-tang/) do not ravage it, but they do eat it all day (we have pinholes in the ulva where they are eating it).

joekool · Mar 19, 2019

AlgaeBarn said:
We have a lot of people successfully growing sea lettuce (ulva lactuca). Grows really really fast and may help repress the growth of diatoms and dinoflagellates. Are you looking at growing sea lettuce or stringly lettuce (entromorpha?)

I grow your sea lettuce.

joekool · Mar 19, 2019

I made this for my sea lettuce I got from @AlgaeBarn. Probably will have to expand it. This is my 687 gallon system. Lots of room in this section 32" × 12" to add more macros just need to raise the light and make more baskets. I have been rotating the lettuce or stirring it making sure it all gets light.

AlgaeBarn · Mar 19, 2019

joekool said:
I made this for my sea lettuce I got from @AlgaeBarn. Probably will have to expand it. This is my 687 gallon system. Lots of room in this section 32" × 12" to add more macros just need to raise the light and make more baskets. I have been rotating the lettuce or stirring it making sure it all gets light.

I'm impressed. This looks fantastic!!

AlgaeBarn · Mar 19, 2019

Jase4224 said:
Nice!! Ulva might be the new chaeto.. lol

For bigger tanks (with tangs, foxfaces, angels), we recommend Ulva over chaeto.

joekool · Mar 19, 2019

AlgaeBarn said:
I'm impressed. This looks fantastic!!

That's cool....
Not many fish at moment but soon there will be a nice assortment eating like pigs.

It's only been a few days but the lettuce looks nice and green. Been slowly turning up the light to acclimate it. Here's a couple more pictures for ya.

P.s. @AlgaeBarn what else you think I should put in there?