How good will macro algae and sea grass grow under my lights?

[Fishy 1]

Hey everyone, I'm thinking of turning my fowlr into a macro/sea grass tank and wondered how well macro will grow under my three T8's, the bulbs atm are a marine blue and two 6500k daylights - I can easily change the bulbs to different ones if need be. The tank is 48"+18"+18"

One other question: how deep should the sand bed be?

Any input greatly appreciated:beer:

 

[Tiki God]

Macro will do great, seagrass not so well. Seagrass needs very intense lighting (MH is a good example).

As for the sandbed, to be able to keep any type of grass, 6" is a good depth.

 

[ferret]

T8 is not enough for the seagrass and deep sand bed is to be considered which type of seagrass you're going to plant since some species like star & paddle grass only require 2" to 3" thickness of sand. Moreover, other than light the organic matters contained within the sand bed is important to the growth of seagrass since the plant won't last long if it can't obtain nutrients via its root system. HTH

 

[Fishy 1]

OK thanks guy's, I'll probably do macro only then.
Cheers

 

[kakalakasha]

OK thanks guy's, I'll probably do macro only then.
Cheers

I found that a few Caulerpa species will grow in sand and looks very similar to sea grass. I had some Caulerpa which I kept contained in the side of my tank for a seagrass look. It grows quick and if it gets a hold of your liverock it will root into your liverock and be very hard to get rid of.
But with correct trimming and pruning it looks beautiful and is similar looking to seagrass.

 

[Fishy 1]

Thanks I'll look into it, I really like the seagrass look and it's a nice change from corals.

 

[Pigpen17]

I was in the same boat, looking for seagrass. I ended up going with CAULERPA PROLIFERA. It has the look I wanted. Still to early to tell how well it will go, so I can't say much in the way of helpful tips, just that that is where I went.


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[Pigpen17]

Whoa! The new growths, even in just a few days are.....

Getting nervous.

 

[rbla51]

Whoa! The new growths, even in just a few days are.....

Getting nervous.

I to loved the look, but there is a very real chance its gonna go asexual (mine did) and nuke the tank

 

[Pigpen17]

I have read a bit on that, but not sure I fully understand. Nuke the tank? As in grow everywhere, or go toxic?

 

[kakalakasha]

I have read a bit on that, but not sure I fully understand. Nuke the tank? As in grow everywhere, or go toxic?

Going sexual is when the plant dies off and it releases a ton of organic matter that can crash a tank in a very short period of time. This tends to happen to caulerpa that is let go. If you had a tank and let the caulerpa grow forever and never trimmed or cleaned it up, it's bound to happen. It can also happen to a small clump like yours, but the chance is extremely rare. I had a similar amount of caulerpa in my tank for about a year and never had an issue.

 

[Pigpen17]

Got ya. Thanks. I found a video on YouTube that shows what it looks like. I need to read up on it more as well. I have never trimmed or cleaned macros before. Sounds like if you trim off the dying stuff that should keep it in check.

Man. There is just nothing simple about this hobby. Good thing I'm at a phase of my tankkeeperdom where I am enjoying the challenges.

 

[Pigpen17]

Quick update.

The Caulerpa Prolifera has turned out to be a good choice. It grows fast, but is very easy to trim back. I keep a pair of metal manicure scissors by the tank. It grows out and not up, so you just pick a spot in it's root vine, snip it, and pull the unwanteds out. I have only had to do this once so far. When I first added it to the tank, there was some leaves that were dying off. those were a bit tougher to trim, but not a big job compared to other tank maintenance. It is staying to the sand bed and off the rocks, just like I hoped.

So far I am very happy with it. Looks good and it's doing just what I wanted it to.