Macroalgae nano

P

Puffersarefun

Member
Hi everyone, I've been an aquarist for about a year now, and I'm wanting to set up a 30 gal macroalgae nano connected to my first tank, and I've been researching and researching, and I've finally, I think, decided which algaes I want. I'm not really sure if I'll have room for everything, though.
I'm going to have, initially:
Ulva lettuce algae
Codium
Sargassum
Various forms of halimedia
red gracilaria,
and eventually I want:
Cauperpa Floridana
Dictatya
Halymenia
Botrocladia
Red bush algae(for my main tank though)
Padina
Also, what kind of lighting fixtures will I need for all this?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
 
tektite

tektite

Active Member
You might have a problem fitting all those algaes into a 30 gal. Once they're established you'll be doing a bit of trimmimg fairly frequently :) Ulva can grow pretty big, I had a piece that was attached to my glass, it grew to 3' long before I pulled it out and sold it. Sargassum can be pretty cool looking, I loved the air bubbles mine had. Kept it pointing straight up all the time.

Personally I would stay away from any Caulerpa, its invasive and can go sexual. Whatever you do, do NOT add Dictyota! Trust me, you will regret it. Its very fragile and breaks up like crazy when your trying to remove it and all it takes is a piece 1/4" long to land somewhere and start growing.

Hopefully others will chime in with more info for you :)
 
fishhead

fishhead

Active Member
Puffersarefun said:
Hi everyone, I've been an aquarist for about a year now, and I'm wanting to set up a 30 gal macroalgae nano connected to my first tank, and I've been researching and researching, and I've finally, I think, decided which algaes I want. I'm not really sure if I'll have room for everything, though.
I'm going to have, initially:
Ulva lettuce algae
Codium
Sargassum
Various forms of halimedia
red gracilaria,
and eventually I want:
Cauperpa Floridana
Dictatya
Halymenia
Botrocladia
Red bush algae(for my main tank though)
Padina
Also, what kind of lighting fixtures will I need for all this?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Click to expand...

I see you missed the most "useful" macro algae in my opinion, the Chaetomorpha sp. Not the prettiest, but highly functional and hardy. And, of course, I sell it.
vcm_s_kf_representative_403x480.jpg
 
Last edited:
P

Puffersarefun

Member
Sorry, I kept forgetting to get on lol! Thanks for all the advice. Yeah, I had kind of figured I wouldn't be able to fit all that in there, but I figured I might as well post them all! All right, I won't add the dictyota or caulerpa then. I already have some Chaeto, my local LFS sold me some the second I said macroalgae, lol. Are there any other good looking macroalgae any of you think would look good?
Thanks for all the help!!
 
P

Puffersarefun

Member
Awesome tank got2envy. Oh, I'm also considering making this a seahorse tank, too. I went to my LFS to get a clean up crew and asked them about it, and they said it would be a great, but I'm still not sure about it.
ps, got some Halimeda too. It looks great!
 
tektite

tektite

Active Member
Most of the macros I'd use if I put my macro tank back up are already listed in your OP :) I can post some pics if you want of the ones I had. Main ones were red Gracillaria, Halymenia, Nemastoma, Sargassum, Dictyota (unwillingly), chaeto...
 
tektite

tektite

Active Member
Sure.

Here's the Nemastoma when I first got it as a hitchhiker:
P1030060.jpg


Eventually grew to a nice bush:
P1040713.jpg


Wonderful looking macro but very fragile, needs low flow.

I took less pics of the Sargassum than I thought -

Here's a pic of a young one growing:
P1050805-1.jpg


Here's an overall shot with the Sargassum circled:
P1050822-2.jpg
 
P

Puffersarefun

Member
That looks great! and the nemastoma sounds perfect, seahorses can't take very strong waterflow. The sargassum looks good, too. Perfect for the ponies to anchor to. Thnks for all the help! I can't think of any other questions right now, tho I'm sure I will have some more soon, lol. :)
 
J

johnmaloney

Well-Known Member
if it is a display macro tank, (not a refugium for a coral tank), why not go with caulerpa? The nicest macro tanks all have caulerpa...nice color plants well int he fore and back ground....dictyota wont grow crazy in a macro tank. Too much competition.

tektite - your nemastoma is a species of gracilaria, a really nice one - it is pretty rare
 
P

Puffersarefun

Member
Yeah, its a display tank. I was planning on harvesting some of the algae to feed my puffer anyway, so caulerpa would be good. I don't really want one that will take over the whole tank, like racemosa or taxifolia though. I was thinking maybe ashmeadii?
 
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