red kelp?

[caligal]

just thought id get some opinions...

saw a rock of red kelp for sale in my lfs for just a few $. its maybe 7" tall and a few wide and very leafy/branchy so its healthyish i guess, i know its sometimes a nusciance algae tho, any pros of having one in a tank? what are the cons tho just interested before i make a decision or not :/ ?

THANKS!

 

[whippetguy]

If it's really kelp, I don't know of any that are nuisance algae in aquariums. It's usually slow growing and sometimes doesn't live long in home tanks. Sometimes, it will lose it's main leafy growth and have a main stalk left with a few leafy growths occasionally. Most kelps do better in cooler water temps.

If they are advertising red grape kelp, that's different and technically not a kelp. I had some in my tank and loved it. Very easy to grow and cut back if it got too big. My Mexican turbos wiped out mine. My clowns loved it, one even slept in it at night. Do you have photo of it? You'll get more help if we know for sure what it is.

 

[DianaKay]

+1 on wanting to see a picture & hear more about this. I think it would be awesome to have some in my tank if it's good for the fish and won't be a nuisance. I don't go to the LFS (too far away) very often & I've never seen any for sale.

 

[caligal]

theres the pic! hope i uploaded it correctly?
my dad ended up buying it for himself haha, i have 3 tangs and they dont touch it and my mandrin dragonett seems to like swimming through it

(sorry for the bad img quality)

 

[tektite]

Yeah, a lot of vendors call all macroalgaes 'kelp'. Very annoying!

That is a very nice macroalgae called Halymenia. FYI the tangs will eat it, even if they're ignoring it at the moment as its strange. It is a very tasty macro to them.

 

[frisbee]

Here's a good article reguarding macro algae & display tanks.

Beyond the Refugium: A Macroalgae Primer by Sarah Lardizabal - Reefkeeping.com