Macroalgae Questions

[ebliss1]

I have a 12 gallon nano reef with moderate lighting and a standard bio-wheel filter system. I have a small population of hermit crabs, red crabs, snails (turbos and astreas) and 3 fish: a striped damsel, a diadema pseudochromis and an ocellarus clownfish. I'm thinking of adding some macroalgae to the tank to control nitrates and add some color. I wanted to add a maiden hair and a red feather macroalgae.

My questions are this:

Can I add them to the tank directly without a refugium (kind of defeats the "add color" purpose if they're in a refugium)?

How deep a sand bed will they need?

Will my existing critters eat them or will they be ok?

Do they require any special care and feeding?

Will they overwhelm a 12 gallon tank?

I'm having a fair bit of trouble locating info on macroalgae in general so if anyone has some good links, that would be appreciated as well.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Samala]

Can I add them to the tank directly without a refugium (kind of defeats the "add color" purpose if they're in a refugium)?

Yep, directly to the tank. More aggressive and fast growing macroalgae should be restricted to the 'fuge in the future.

How deep a sand bed will they need?

Both of these do best when grown upon hard rock surfaces, at least thats been my experience with the red feather like macroalgae. So, no sand, or very little should be fine.

Will my existing critters eat them or will they be ok?

Unlikely they will eat them, but then I have never owned damsels.

Do they require any special care and feeding?

Not specifically. They will pull nutrients from the water column that are generated by the bioload (your fish). Both will need decent lighting though.

Will they overwhelm a 12 gallon tank?

Without pruning one or both species may lay claim to a substantial portion of the tank, but it is likely to take a long time. Red feather is not an aggressive macro and does not grow quickly. I cant speak for maiden's hair as I've never owned it.

>Sarah