Macro Cultivation - ID's, success, failure, and journey.

[griseum]

So ive posted a couple threads in the past year regarding Agardhiella alga.
It seems to be not so popular, even across the web as far as info regarding captive cultivation. It is of course a Rhodophyta, and I was able to find some Printed works with small bits about it. I have a high end LFS near by that has been offering it and i really wanted to succeed in using it for fresh tang food and if it worked out, nutrient export.

No success over several attempts before thorough reading, with the usual Macro husbandry.

I did stumble across maybe 2, at most, articles online, that did help a bit. Being a red, and being found deeper than green macro, I had a brainstorm that it needed more Blue and Royal Blue lighting, over Daylight/Cool White.
This turned out to be the step in the right direction i needed.

As that red thrived, another red popped up in this particular fuge as well. Its a broad, flat leaf-like Macro, Ulva-like flatness, but not easy to tear and soft, but like a more brittle plastic texture.
Hoping for an ID on this one, but please check out the other pic which is what ive been told, ID'ed and purchased as Agardhiella spp.

Any further input is appreciated!!!

Im becoming more and more interested in Algae and true Marine Plants, and my focus is spreading further in these directions. I have a shark breeding lagoon, in line with a half dozen or so Fuge and LR tanks, with some breeding reef fish in some of them. I have high bio-load, with over 10 sharks, some big, big reef fish. So the 500+ gallons in in-line tanks are my different experiments in nutrient exporting and algae/fish propagation.
Total System Volume between 2200-2500 gals.
Id like to keep this as somewhat of a diary of different cultivations/propagations, pros, cons, successes, failures, and journey along the way.

 

[Subsea]

I suggest Gulf Coast Ecosystem as a reference. Russ has a refrence book that list different macros, including depth collected.

I have grown Gracilaria Parvispora, Tang Heaven Red, in a tumble culture. With 1 lb introduced into a 55G tank, I harvested 35 LBS in one month. This particular macro is indigenous to GOM. In Hawaiia it is called Red Ogo. It is a popular people food.

Good fortune on your venture.
Patrick

 

[griseum]

Thanks for the reply! Ive read and refer to marineplantbook.com and it is a great resource. I still havent seen the two macros in the pics above on hia retail GCE site or the book. Is it possible Agardhiella genus has been renamed or newly classified??
A quick google search brings up the info about it so I dont think so...

Im quite impressed with 35 lbs of growth in a month! Was that dry weight? What type of lighting was used, I believe ive read your posts saying you use natural sun light?
And what was your nutrient source?

After reading more on tbe web, I think this Agardhiella is cultivated and was sourced from ORA!!

The other pic up top seems like texture of a Halymenia sp. Or like an ugly dragons breath.
These may be temperate or very wide ranged alga from what ive read.

 

[Subsea]

If it is related to Dragons Breath, it should be slippery to the touch?

The weight would be called damp weight. Allow to drain 10 seconds, then weigh it. With the 35 fold increase, I used 1000W MH with a 6500 kelvin bulb. The bulb was 24" above the water. It was during the winter on exterior south porch, before the greenhouse tanks. I used the MH for heating up the interior spaces as well as a light source.
My nutrient source was 50 mollies feeding the tank. If you are not interested in doing a polyculture of mollies and macro, then use liquid calcium nitrate or NH4 as a nutrient source.
Patrick

 

[griseum]

Its funny you say that, about the mollies. As a throwback to GARF ive been culturing them in some fuge tanks to add another live food source to the system (the young). Im also QTing a large group of chesapeake killifish to culture as well.

As far as the leaf-like macro, its semi-smooth but with a little texture, not sure if thats from epiphytic life or the macros natural texture. ?