Macroalgae tank?

[Knox_Legend]

Well it's been a long time since I have checked the ETRC forum lot's of stuff going on I see. My question is has anyone kept a macro algae tank and If so do you have any pointers or tips on what I may need. I know lighting wouldn't be nearly as much as for a reef tank but how much lighting is adequate? The only other snag I see is my sailfin tang eating it all before it has a chance to grow. Thanks for any advice and I hope to check in more often.

 

[MattAndKim]

How big is the tank? I've always used a PC light for my fuge and have always had excellent growth if nutrients were high. I think you can grow enough macro that the tang won't be able to eat it all, but the nutrients must be present for it to grow fast enough. I would recommend a healthy CUC to prevent nuisance algae from growing within the macro.

 

[Knox_Legend]

The tank is a 135g tank. I can grow tons of cheato in my nano tank with a spiral flourescent light bulb but I don't think that will cut it in a tank as deep as mine 24" or 22" I can't quite remember the depth.

 

[Runner]

Never intentionally had a Macro tank, but had razor calurpa take over my old 75G tank under 175W MH lighting. I was pulling out a soccer-ball sized amount every month in vain attempt to keep it under control. In my sump, I had several other varieties growing under an 18W CF spotlight bulb and in 8" of water.

 

[Knox_Legend]

I'm thinking that T5 will be more than enough light for what I am wanting to do. Finding the right 72" fixture will be the next course of action. From what I have read so far some of these macros can be rather difficult to grow and almost need water as pristine as if you had an sps tank. If anyone has any macro they would be willing to trim, sell or just want to get rid of pm me I would be more than interested.