Macro Algae display tank

Jer77 i really like your tank. It's so nice to see a biotope like this instead of the sps dominated systems that are so prominant now days. Love the butterfly's.
 
I am wondering if I should use GFO intermittently. My macro is getting way too efficient at removing nitrate I think. I have ramped up my feeding in hopes to add nitrate but its been reading 0 the last couple of weeks. With my nitrate being 0 I am noticing my phosphate creeping up. It usually hovers around .04 but then it went up to .06 then .07 - tested with low range phosphate Hanna checker. I am also contemplating dosing KNO3 if overfeeding cant keep a readable nitrate number. Even when my nitrate hovered around 5-10 my phosphate never dipped below .04.

I am aiming at a nitrate reading consistent at 5ppm and phosphate at .02 - so maybe run GFO for a few hours once a week? Thoughts?


Its ok to use GFO with macro. I'm doing it now and my halimeda is still growing, maybe not as fast as it could but still growing. I haven't tested my nitrates and phosphates for a while, but I'm assuming they are reasonably low with so much stuff absorbing it.

djkms, what kind of macro(s) are you keeping now? What skimmer do you have? I ask cause different macros use nitrate and phosphate at different rates, so some are better at phosphate removal than others. This is been studied and recorded in many journals and reports, probably even in RC mag. It is usually done by species. I forget the trends, but you can find them easily. A good skimmer also contributes to lower readings. Other contributors are flow rates and available limiting resources like calcium and alk. High phosphates might also come from decomposing macro that should of been trimmed out.

Jer77 i really like your tank. It's so nice to see a biotope like this instead of the sps dominated systems that are so prominant now days. Love the butterfly's.

THX! I'd like to see yours and others' tanks implementing macro in the display.

Jer77 - just noticed something. How is the Blue Tang not destroying your macros?

He's full-grown now, but only eats seaweed for some reason. Halimeda has too much CaCO3 and caulerpa is pretty noxious as a sea slug I got became sick from eating too much of it and exclusively decided to target the halimeda and chaeto. Plus I think he favors more meaty items like PE mysis. I have a kole tang which likes to scrap the microalgae from rocks.
 
djkms, I should have looked at your signature for your skimmer. Never heard of an SVS2-24. How much skimmate does it remove per week? I have an external super octopus cone that removes a lot, like 8-10 cups/week. Its thick and dark with 1/4 of it is more of a solid.
 
The skimmer is a Lifereef. I skim about a gallon ever 1 1/2 - 2 weeks.

I did my weekly test yesterday and my PO4 tested at .04 - which is lower then it has been in a while. I'm thinking it might have something to do with my recently added kalk stirrer, maybe the kalk is precipitating out my PO4 now. Time will tell I guess.

As far as macros in my system. here is a list:

Blue Ochtodes
Botryocladia
Caulerpa Ashmeadii
Caulerpa Prolifera
Chaeto
Cymopolia Barbata
Dictoya (Not by choice LOL!!!)
Fire Fern
Flame Algae (variant of fire fern)
Gracilaria Hayi
Gracilaria mammillaris
Halimeda discoidea
Halimeda monile
Halymenia
Padina
Pink Galaxy
Sargassum
Titan
Violet Dreams
 
djkms, wow!:eek2: I skimmed through your build thread and I love all the pics of your macros. Some of which I've heard of but never seen live. Where did you procure such fancy stuff? Are the fancy macros hard to keep and acclimate?
 
Thanks! I get my macros from varies places, reefcleaners, eBay, etc. I have 4 sites I check on daily to see if there is anything new.

Most macros have been relatively easy to care for except the ones my Idol munches on. As soon as I pick up my dslr camera next month and this current system hits its one year anniversary I will start a build thread here on rc :)

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Have you measured your PAR in this tank with those LED's? I have a pair of the Stark 60 W units over a 3ft tank, I like these, but know they cost more, but they look nice also.

You must have them up 20-24" above the tank to produce better spread?
I have mine about 20" above the water's surface.

Cymopolia....try to grow this one out as much as you can, it's a nice little green macro and will much through the Ca and alk well like calecarous algae, some Reds, like Jania or Neogoneolithon are also nice, most will mistake them for coral. I get that every so often. These should do very well in a coral tank. I find these reds in shallows with high wave and currents, in both seagrass beds as well as near the crest around islands in shallow water where corals are present.
 
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Can you post or pm me these online sites?

Sure thing.

http://reefcleaners.org/index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=6&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=34

http://shop.ebay.com/macroman2000/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=25

http://live-plants.com/

http://www.lareefs.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1&zenid=956fd8e20c30056e6eb4d81f90656759

If you guys know of any other sites let me know!



Have you measured your PAR in this tank with those LED's? I have a pair of the Stark 60 W units over a 3ft tank, I like these, but know they cost more, but they look nice also.

You must have them up 20-24" above the tank to produce better spread?
I have mine about 20" above the water's surface.

Cymopolia....try to grow this one out as much as you can, it's a nice little green macro and will much through the Ca and alk well like calecarous algae, some Reds, like Jania or Neogoneolithon are also nice, most will mistake them for coral. I get that every so often. These should do very well in a coral tank. I find these reds in shallows with high wave and currents, in both seagrass beds as well as near the crest around islands in shallow water where corals are present.

Yeah I took PAR readings but somehow lost the picture I put the info on. Roughly, AWL is 850 3" below is 650 midway is 450 and sandbed is 250. Subtract about 50 par between the units. The fixture is 14" from the water line. I have all 40 degree optics.

I do love the cymopolia but so does my Idol, actually 2 of my favorite macros are the cymopolia and Acetabularia and the Idol likes both.

Do you have any pics of the Jania or Neogoneolithon? I am always interested in new macros!
 
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Sorry I took this system down a couple months back. Decided to go SPS dominant.

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Bummer. I just found this thread and was really excited to see progress. I am working on setting up my DSA 225 as well, and was thinking of doing this.
 
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