High Nutrient Macro Algae/Sea Grass Reef

[vlangel]

Your success with the Sargassum has encouraged me to give it a try. However I do know that yours came attached to a piece of live rock and that may make a difference, so I am going into this knowing that I may not get it to thrive. It is worth a shot anyway. Since it likes high light, I am planning on putting it up high in the tank in front of the overflow. It will get maximum light there as that is the highest par in the display. I probably should change out one of the actinic lights for a grow light.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

That sounds like a good plan. Mine really started to flourish once they were in better light.

 

[vlangel]

My order is due any time now and I am ready. I did about an 8 or 9 gallon WC this morning. I also dosed some 2 part. I use IO salt and I know it is low in calcium. Neither my display or fuge has coraline algae and I know that is because of the IO. When I used Reef Crystals I did get coraline algae. I am thinking that the calcareous macros probably need more calcium than they have been getting. My order has in it the halimeda sample pack and they all utilize calcium.

I also worked on covering the fuge and the sump to cut down on evaporation. I had them somewhat covered but it is much better now.

The feather caulerpa in the fuge is much more controlled since I really went at it a couple of weeks ago. I think my red macro algae and the codium seem to be growing more now. I was thinking of putting the new macro algae coming in the order in the display but as I pondered that more, I think the fuge is better. The display lights are good for the fish and coral but not as good for the macros. Perhaps the halimeda sample pack can go in the display but I think the sargassum should go in the fuge. I am up in the air about the dragon's breath. I had good luck with it before under reef lighting.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

New stuff on the way! That's exciting. Tough call on where to put everything. Maybe if there's enough you could split some up between both tanks?

I got coralline growth by putting mesh bags of crushed coral in my (CO2 injected) canister filter.

 

[vlangel]

My order still is not here and it is 2 hours late from the latest time it was suppose to arrive. I am feeling kind of worried as I need to go to a doctor appt and leave in 3 hours.

I could do that with a mesh bag of crushed coral in the Aquaclear! I do not want too much coraline algae as that is just maintenance. It would be comforting to see a little however to know that the tank has enough calcium. I do have a test kit. I guess I should use it, ha ha!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Oh man, that's stressful. Fingers crossed.

Besides Halimeda, other plants need Calcium too, so I thing added Calcium is a good idea. You don't need a ton of course, but just enough to get a little Coralline, I would think.

 

[vlangel]

Well, I am cancelling my appt because UPS has not shown up. They did change the tracking from an 8:30 am delivery to a 9 pm delivery. Uhhg, this is frustrating but I hope they show up today.

I thought the same about calcium being added, that just a small amount should do it. So I added a capful of each of the 2 part.

 

[vlangel]

My order did show up and it was fine. All the plants are in the tanks. I put the ricordia, and the sample pack of halimeda in the display. I put the Sargassum and the dragon's breath in the refugium. I love the Sargassum, so I really hope it grows for me.

 

[vlangel]

Here are pics of the fuge. The Sargassum is in the top right corner of the tank. It's high for maximum light and I chose that area because it is above the drain and under the waterfall of the Aquaclear for maximum turbulence to mimic tumbling. I am really hoping that this mimics tumbling in the ocean.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/E5X3j2wAx4yRsJNA6
The next is a close up of the Sargassum with it's buoyant berries or whatever those thingies are. You can also see all the bubbles from the drain and the Aquaclear.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/cKaxtWWQ94iykn547
The last pic is of some Codium with grass shrimp around it gathering pellets.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ekyYFepvUpxhYqub8
I will take pics of the display when the lights come on to show the halimeda and ricordia.


*****Pics deleted*****

 

[Michael Hoaster]

That looks good. Your fuge is really coming together!

 

[vlangel]

I am so pleased with how the fuge is looking and functioning. When I set it up I only cared about function. Now I kind of wished that I had given more thought to the placement of the overflow and the drain and made them a little less prominent. Ha Ha, live and learn. I just never dreamed that it could be an attractive tank in its own right. I probably could redo both of those without too much disruption to the fuge but I do not know if I care that much.

The fuge is on a 12 hour on, 12 hour off light cycle, (all 4 bulbs) and yet nuisance algae is less than what is in my display. There is a very slight brownish tint to the sand but then some of that is garden dirt and detritus that is settled there. I never do anything to the sand, I let the conch and the nassarius snails do it all as far as stirring it up.
That got me thinking that maybe I should be running my daylight bulbs longer in the display. I have only been running them for 5 hours but today I bumped it up to 7 hours. I do get cyano or diatoms on the sand bed surface of the display. If it does not get worse however I am going to keep the longer daylight photo phase to see if that is beneficial to the macros and the coral.


https://photos.app.goo.gl/XUY6J8zCTGthmPTY6
Close up of some of the halimeda.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Great pics!

That's funny you should mention that, about your fuge. I'm sure you'll tinker it into shape. I predict it will evolve into a display that will rival your display.

The new plants look great. So green! Is the Dragon's Breath visible in any of the fuge shots? I didn't see it. I wanted to see if it looked like mine.

Those Ricordias are gorgeous too. Are they less invasive than regular mushrooms? I've always thought they looked great, but avoided them.

 

[vlangel]

It not a great view but you can see the Dragon's Breath in the 1st fuge FTS. It is on the left of the tank, under the flexible drain tube. It is a spring of about 1 and half inches in diameter so not real big. Its stuck in the stoney staghorn skeleton but it looks kind of like the red gracilaria on the far left in that shot. The tips are not orange yet.

I actually have never grown ricordia before. These are on that tabling stoney acro so are confined. I am ok if the reproduce.

Ha ha, I probably will get disgusted with the function only look and then one day I will tackle it to make the plumbing lower profile.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I'm not sure if I see it or not. No worries. I'll see it next time.

Those Ricordias look great. I can see why you wouldn't mind them reproducing.

Your fuge will look better as the plants fill in too.

 

[vlangel]

I'm not sure if I see it or not. No worries. I'll see it next time.

Those Ricordias look great. I can see why you wouldn't mind them reproducing.

Your fuge will look better as the plants fill in too.

The lights are off on the fuge now but I will take a pic of specifically the Dragon's Breath.

 

[vlangel]

I also made a trip to my LFS. I did not exercise self control however and came home with 2 new fish! A yellow watchman goby and a green canary blenny. They were in a bio cube together so are already acclimated tank mates. I have been wanting a yellow watchman for a while and I have always loved canary blennies. This green canary blenny is a step up in beauty and its stunning. It is a carnivore so should not be a problem with Tommy who is the only fish that I am worried about. I am acclimating them in my sump since neither shows any signs of disease and they were in a stand alone tank. They can settle and get used to my water conditions without the stress of tank mates and I can monitor their eating. I have no self control, ha ha! I only went to the LFS to get reef roids. What can I say.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/pXqWEXxr31w2fyix9

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Yes, that looks like what I got. Yours looks redder. Mine has lightened up in the brightish light it's in.

Nice looking new fish! They'll add a nice touch of yellow.

Speaking of Reef Roids, what are they made out of, gold?

 

[vlangel]

Yes, that looks like what I got. Yours looks redder. Mine has lightened up in the brightish light it's in.

Nice looking new fish! They'll add a nice touch of yellow.

Speaking of Reef Roids, what are they made out of, gold?

I guess I should expect mine to lighten also since my lighting is pretty intense.

The new fish look great this morning swimming around exploring. I have not seen them eat any frozen or flake food yet but the sump has lots of amphipods and copepods so they may be eating live food.

Yes, I think reef roids must be made of gold considering how much they cost! I paid $18 for a small package of them.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

My Dragon's Breath has so far shown no significant growth. I think it takes them longer than most to settle in. It's not dying off, so I'll take that as a good sign. One of my little frags of it has come loose yet again. I may try planting it in less light to see whether it likes it.

I'm going to wait on reef roids for now. I have frozen rotifers. I've had them for awhile and need to use them. I think I bought them by accident, thinking they were cyclops.

 

[vlangel]

I put my Dragon's Breath half way up in the fuge so it is probably 15" down from the light fixture. When I had it years ago in my 90 gallon tank it was very high and probably only 6-8" from the light, (which was VHOs so that really dates me, Ha Ha!). It grew great that high and the orange tips were spectacular. That is my only experience but from that I concluded that at least some species can tolerate a fair amount of light.

I do not blame you for holding off on the reef roids. The frozen roti should feed small mouths too so it makes sense to use it up.

I checked on the watchman and the canary blenny. They look really good, and are not hiding but still have not eaten anything I have fed them yet. That would include flakes, frozen brine shrimp and prime reef. I wished I had accesss to some live food to try. I believe that they may be hunting pods but I would really like to see them eat something that I provide for them. Considering that they were in a stand alone bio cube they were surely eating prepared food at the LFS. I just need to be patient.