Macro sump display?

[Kizzy911]

i've seen plenty of nice and clean macro sump displays.
I figured that if i were to have macro algae in my sump why not make it into something nice. though i do have questions.
1) Should I add substrate ?
2) Which algae would be best ? (currently have chaeto in a critter keeper and 4 stalks of mangroves) currently ordering 50 red mangrove stalks.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Macros don't technically root, but many like a substrate for their holdfasts. You said you'd like it to look nice. Bare bottoms are as ugly as they come, IMO, but if you like the look…

That's an awful lot of mangroves! As for macro algae choices, caulerpas grow fast, reds grow slow. Otherwise, which ones do you like?

 

[jraker]

Pretty much whatever you like because macros are pretty easy to keep. There is a wide range of options out there, so you can try some different stuff out.

 

[Kizzy911]

I really love mangroves haha, i wonder what the benefits are of having such large amount of mangroves.

 

[Kizzy911]

Thinking of doing an all mangrove sump with maybe 100-200 mangroves. would that be ideal or is that just crazy? pros and cons maybe? thanks guys

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Just crazy. Mangroves are not particularly good at nutrient removal. They grow too slow. Cramming a ton of them into a sump is just going to kill them. Do some research. There's a ton of good info on mangroves out there.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Packing mangroves close together is ok to get them started, but in a very short time (in aquarium time) they will send out roots. Soon after that the roots will tangle together to the point that you can't separate them. And not too long after that they start to die due to overcrowding.

I realize that where you live mangroves are uncommon, but where I live, I can walk the beach during the right time of the year and pick up thousands of mangrove propagules. I have 4 starting to root in my display refugium, one 2' tall in my 65g shallow reef and a handful in a plastic cup just starting to show roots. I'm not sure what I'll do with them?