Macroalgae tank

[littlefoxx]

Thinking about actually setting up a microalgae tank in my IM 15. Anyone have any good links to guides? Like a start to finish (what kind of sand, rock, ect)??

Can my clownfish go in the tank too? I have a pair of storms that need to go in there, so that would determine if I could do it or not.

Been researching and not going to lie Im a little at a loss how to start it and if I should start one

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I think you might need to explain what a microalgae tank is and what you want it to accomplish to help folks answer.

 

[littlefoxx]

I think you might need to explain what a microalgae tank is and what you want it to accomplish to help folks answer.

Excuse me, I meant macroalgae! Typo. Looking at something like this and would like to harvest it eventually to feed tangs

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Excuse me, I meant macroalgae! Typo. Looking at something like this and would like to harvest it eventually to feed tangs

Ah, ok, that is a lot easier to understand. I'll change the title.

FWIW, macroalgae and clownfish should cohabitate just fine.

 

[Dburr1014]

@Subsea has a nice macro tank.
Er, I think it was him. LOL

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Excuse me, I meant macroalgae! Typo. Looking at something like this and would like to harvest it eventually to feed tangs

Haha, I was going to say you just add a ton of phyto and eventually you get tanks like those below:

Edit: Whoops, posted early - see the rest below.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Live phyto overdose leads to cloudy water?

I have a Red Sea Reefer 170 with about 42 total gallons of water. For 3 weeks now, I've been dosing about 15-20ml of the AlgaeBarn live phyto that came with my 5280 pods combo pack. A week ago, I started seeing my water get a bit cloudy, and today it's totally brown/green. I've tested all my...

www.reef2reef.com

Green water algae?!

hello, so I have a 90 gallon tank with two viparspecras. I keep getting green water algae. I’ve only been running my lights at 1% blue and 1% white and my water turns green within a couple days. I have two and a half sides of the tank painted black. What am I doing wrong? The lights only stay on...

www.reef2reef.com

Accidental Phyto vs. Green-water-that-isn't-Phyto?

Greetings all. So I have a 5gal bucket that I use for culturing rubble/frag-plugs and various bugs. Over the past few weeks it has turned a very exciting shade of PHYTO-green. Under the microscope it looks very similar to the store-bought variety, but have to admit that I don't have a degree...

www.reef2reef.com

HELP. new to reef GOT green

tank is 150 g. Got 4 fish and some corals Everything was going great (6 months in) Went on vacation for a long weekend. Think my in-laws had the lights on bright white for way too long. Came home to this. It’s been two week. Done about 6 water changes and still not clearing up...

www.reef2reef.com

Can Phytoplankton Reproduce On It's Own??

So I've had the little 10G nano up and running for a few months now and everything was going well until all of a sudden BOOM! For like 10 days now the water keeps getting "cloudier and cloudier" until now I have been just thinking must be a bacteria bloom. But today as I noticed it's getting...

www.reef2reef.com

Live Phytoplankton overdose?

The tank was first cloudy around 6 weeks ago. I have been dosing around 20ml live phytoplankton every other day. Last dose was 2 weeks ago. Tank has been this green ever since. Copepods have been loving it they are booming. Not sure as much from my Corals though. What can I do to clear it up...

www.reef2reef.com

Anyway, Subsea, sixty_reefer, Tigahboy, eatfrenchfries, and others have macroalgae tanks and may have useful input here.

All I have to add at the moment is that the link below is a good starting point, and that care needs vary by species of algae:

Marine Plants In The Aquarium: An online guide to the identification and care of marine plants and macroalgae in the aquarium.

An online guide to the identification and care of marine plants and macroalgae in the aquarium.

www.marineplantbook.com

 

[littlefoxx]

Ah, ok, that is a lot easier to understand. I'll change the title.

FWIW, macroalgae and clownfish should cohabitate just fine.

Cool! Thank you

Anyway, Subsea, sixty_reefer, Tigahboy, eatfrenchfries, and others have macroalgae tanks and may have useful input here.

All I have to add at the moment is that the link below is a good starting point, and that care needs vary by species of algae:

Marine Plants In The Aquarium: An online guide to the identification and care of marine plants and macroalgae in the aquarium.

An online guide to the identification and care of marine plants and macroalgae in the aquarium.

www.marineplantbook.com

and thank you! Thats more what I was looking for.

Any species recommendations for beginners that are hardy? Thats also where I get confused is what kinds would be the easier ones to start out with

 

[Subsea]

Cool! Thank you

and thank you! Thats more what I was looking for.

Any species recommendations for beginners that are hardy? Thats also where I get confused is what kinds would be the easier ones to start out with

The online guide from live plants is a good hands on resource. I use both ornamental & utilitarian seaweeds.from the Caribbean / Gulf of Mexico habitats. Keep lighting intensity on the low side to sliw down the fast growth. I prefer 6500K spectrum and a temperature 72-75 degrees.

In green, I recommend two differrent Caulerpa’s

In red, I recommend Gracilaria Hayi and Bortacladia (Red Grapes)



For supplemental nutrients I use concentrated liquid kelp fertilizer with 0.3% N.

<head> <title>Macroalgae For Marine Reef Aquariums: Caulerpa Cupressiodes

caulerpa cupressiodes, cactus caulerpa, zipper caulerpa

www.live-plants.com

<head> <title>Macroalgae For Marine Reef Aquariums: Caulerpa racemosa var peltata

<head> <title>Macroalgae For Marine Reef Aquariums: Botryocladia Red Grape

<head> <title>Macroalgae For Marine Reef Aquariums: Gracilaria Hayi

PS: I emulate Caribeean lagoon habitats to facilitate filter feeding invertebrate biospheres. This is a growout system to sustainable produce designer live rock for reef hobiest.

 

[JoJosReef]

Cool! Thank you

and thank you! Thats more what I was looking for.

Any species recommendations for beginners that are hardy? Thats also where I get confused is what kinds would be the easier ones to start out with

live-plants.com is great as @Subsea mentioned above. Also great info on lighting.

Gracilaria hayi and Botrycladia are both very beginner friendly, in my experience. But don't let that you stop that from exploring others!

I'm not a huge fan of Caulerpas. They grow very fast. Although I like the look of cactus Caulerpa (Caulerpa cupressoides), green grape caulerpa (Caulerpa lentillifera) and Caulera racemosa var. peltata. I've had Caulerpa prolifera go sexual a few times, too, which was messy.

An excellent selection can be found at https://mosaicmacros.com/ and also at https://themacrolady.com/shop/ols/categories/macros

Blue hypnea I found difficult to get started with an active tank. Snails kept dislodging it.

Galaxaura is one of my favorite macros, but it unfortunately gets overwhelmed easily by Ulva or Valonia bubble algae outbreaks. Also not one to feed the tangs. But I'm sure they will love you for some red ogo, softer Gracilaria species and Halymenia!

Seahorse Savvy also has a selection of macros, albeit a bit pricier: https://seahorsesavvy.com/collections/macro-algae

 

[littlefoxx]

live-plants.com is great as @Subsea mentioned above. Also great info on lighting.

Gracilaria hayi and Botrycladia are both very beginner friendly, in my experience. But don't let that you stop that from exploring others!

I'm not a huge fan of Caulerpas. They grow very fast. Although I like the look of cactus Caulerpa (Caulerpa cupressoides), green grape caulerpa (Caulerpa lentillifera) and Caulera racemosa var. peltata. I've had Caulerpa prolifera go sexual a few times, too, which was messy.

An excellent selection can be found at https://mosaicmacros.com/ and also at https://themacrolady.com/shop/ols/categories/macros

Blue hypnea I found difficult to get started with an active tank. Snails kept dislodging it.

Galaxaura is one of my favorite macros, but it unfortunately gets overwhelmed easily by Ulva or Valonia bubble algae outbreaks. Also not one to feed the tangs. But I'm sure they will love you for some red ogo, softer Gracilaria species and Halymenia!

Seahorse Savvy also has a selection of macros, albeit a bit pricier: https://seahorsesavvy.com/collections/macro-algae

Cool! So for the set up is it any kind of special sand or rock, or can I set it up and cycle it like I would a regular saltwater tank? I had to do a restart on this tank so its just empty now, I just didnt want to start cycling it in case theirs is anything special (kinda like keeping freshwater planted aquarium). Thats really what I cant find info about!

 

[Subsea]

Cool! So for the set up is it any kind of special sand or rock, or can I set it up and cycle it like I would a regular saltwater tank? I had to do a restart on this tank so its just empty now, I just didnt want to start cycling it in case theirs is anything special (kinda like keeping freshwater planted aquarium). Thats really what I cant find info about!

Not necessary to cycle anything.

I like using a coarser grade aragonite as its matrix allows for ingress of amphipods & copepods: with substrate anywhere from 0.1 -1.5 mm in diameter

 

[JoJosReef]

Cool! So for the set up is it any kind of special sand or rock, or can I set it up and cycle it like I would a regular saltwater tank? I had to do a restart on this tank so its just empty now, I just didnt want to start cycling it in case theirs is anything special (kinda like keeping freshwater planted aquarium). Thats really what I cant find info about!

The ones tagged above will have better info on that than I do. I add macros to a mixed reef tank, so I probably don't have the setup for a macro-dominant tank. In my upcoming refugium, I plan to have a couple of inches of special grade aragonite sand mixed with Fiji Mud and will have a few smaller dry reef rocks (30yo rocks from Fiji/Marshall Islands) for rooting. I will have to check on nutrients to see if additional trace elements are required. In any case, I don't know that the rocks make such a difference, except for ease of rooting and resistance to nuisance algae (which live rock/reef rocks will be better for).

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Not necessary to cycle anything.

That's something that I hope to convey in my new ammonia article: getting nitrifiers to grow first is just one way to set up a tank, and it might not even be the best way if the tank is intended to be consumer heavy as opposed to producer (fish) heavy.

 

[twentyleagues]

I have never had a separate marco tank but I did have a large display fuge on my last system. Blade caulerpa is one of my favorites although it is the one most known for going sexual, I never had this problem I think temp has a bit to do with it. Codium is very cool and fairly easy nice iridescence on the litte hairs on it in bluer lighting. Dragons breath is always a must. Red grape is another great looking red macro. Cactus caulerpa is very cool looking. I tend to stay away from the more calcareous algaes like mermaids fan, pinecone and others they look nice for a while but then 5-6 month they look like garbage at least ime. Any rocks or sand will work I tend to go for something with a larger grain. I have never dosed anything special for the fuge but maybe if it was a tank of just macros I might but I would take advise on this from @Subsea or someone else that is more knowledgeable on that part of it.

 

[JoJosReef]

That's something that I hope to convey in my new ammonia article: getting nitrifiers to grow first is just one way to set up a tank, and it might not even be the best way if the tank is intended to be consumer heavy as opposed to producer (fish) heavy.

I've often wondered why people say to wait so long before adding anything to a newly cycling tank. Don't macros/coral/nems consume ammonia? Wouldn't they be just fine while the tank's rocks get settled with bacteria (or just skip the bottle altogether) and even kick start the process? Presumably part of the equation is "stability", i.e., corals aren't going to be happy with swinging parameters, but how is that different than what we do with an up and running tank?

 

[JoJosReef]

Cool! So for the set up is it any kind of special sand or rock, or can I set it up and cycle it like I would a regular saltwater tank? I had to do a restart on this tank so its just empty now, I just didnt want to start cycling it in case theirs is anything special (kinda like keeping freshwater planted aquarium). Thats really what I cant find info about!

I forgot to mention Codium. Most beginner friendly macro I've experienced so far. Grows well and fast, super resilient, doesn't spread uncontrollably, easy to prune, consumes lots of nutrients. Only thing is your tangs might not like it.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I've often wondered why people say to wait so long before adding anything to a newly cycling tank. Don't macros/coral/nems consume ammonia? Wouldn't they be just fine while the tank's rocks get settled with bacteria (or just skip the bottle altogether) and even kick start the process? Presumably part of the equation is "stability", i.e., corals aren't going to be happy with swinging parameters, but how is that different than what we do with an up and running tank?

I've personally never understood the reason why it is reportedly desirable to wait. The only thing evolving to a great degree is, IMO, the microbiome, and I'm not sure that is a show stopper for starting a tank with, say, soft corals and macroalgae from day 1.

People are just so fish focused during cycling that it forces methods suitable for fish.

 

[Subsea]

I forgot to mention Codium. Most beginner friendly macro I've experienced so far. Grows well and fast, super resilient, doesn't spread uncontrollably, easy to prune, consumes lots of nutrients. Only thing is your tangs might not like it.

Codium requires cooler temperatures. The GOM collectors harvest it in the winter.

 

[Subsea]

That's something that I hope to convey in my new ammonia article: getting nitrifiers to grow first is just one way to set up a tank, and it might not even be the best way if the tank is intended to be consumer heavy as opposed to producer (fish) heavy.

These tank# are less than 30 days wet.