Massive Marine Macro Mugshot thread

I have been threatening to take pics of all my species of algae(20+) just to catalog them like melev did for his animals. Maybe I'll start on this thread.
 
OK, rogue's gallery 1 through 5 Caulerpas
(the eggcrate holes are exactly 1/2" square and the dividers are 1/16" for size relation)

Caulerpa racemosa (var peltata) :
<img src="http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Caulerparacemosacatalog1.JPG">

Caulerpa serrulata (razor) :
<img src="http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Caulerpaserrulatacatalog1.JPG">

Caulerpa sertularoides (feather) :
<img src="http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Caulerpasertularoidescatalog1.JPG">

Caulerpa taxifolia :
<img src="http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Caulerpataxifoliacatalog1.JPG">

And the mystery Caulerpa-ish looking stuff:
<img src="http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/MysteryCaulerpacatalog1.JPG">
 
Here are more green algae

First, the calcerous ones

Halimeda incrassata:
<img src="http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Halimedaincrassatacatalog1.JPG">

Halimeda tuna and a mystery thick leaved green alga:

<img src="http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Halimedatunaplusmysterygreenleaf2catalog.JPG">

Neomeris annulata:

<img src="http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Neomeriscatalog1.JPG">

Then two of the bubbles I have

Ventricaria ventricosa (giant bubble) :
<img src="http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Ventricariacatalog1.JPG">

Valonia ultricularis (grow like balloon animals, I broke this one :D ) :
<img src="http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Valoniaultriculariscatalog1.JPG">

mystery small green leaved alga :
(superficially resembles big mystery green leaved alga above, but these grow in little clusters and stay very thin)
<img src="http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Mysterygreenleafcatalog1.JPG">

and good old Chaetomorpha (spaghetti) :
<img src="http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Chaetocatalog1.JPG">
 
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Here are a couple of browns

Dictyota :
<img src="http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Dictyotacatalog1.JPG">

Lobophorum (I think) :
<img src="http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Lobophorumcatalog1.JPG">

here is a different pic of Lobophorum and mystery Caulerpa:
<img src="http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/brnandgreenmacro.jpg">
 
And lastly, but probably the coolest, the reds

Halymenia (real slimy thick leaved stuff) :

<img src="http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Halymeniacatalog1.JPG">

My classic red dish scrubby (don't know its real name) :
<img src="http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Mysteryreddishscrubbycatalog1.JPG">

Mystery fuzzy red alga :
<img src="http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Mysteryfuzzyredcatalog1.JPG">

Awesome brilliant red plating alga:
(I have a red mushroom attached to a piece of it too :D )
<img src="http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Mysteryred3catalog1.jpg">

Cool bubbly leaved mystery red :
<img src="http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Mysteryred2catalog1.jpg">


Well there's 20 to start with. I still have two Valonia types to find (I destroyed a bunch) and another cool bubble leaved red that was shading a gorg and we won't even get into the corallines, hair and turfs which aren't all that cool. Once in a while Acetabularia and Bryopsis show up and the Dictyota, C. sertularoides, C. taxifolia, and Neomeris all come and go too.

I'ts a jungle in there! :D
 
Does the Caulerpa racemosa go sexually than the rest, what I'm saying which macro is best for your system, that won't go sex crazed in your system.
 
For nutrient export, it's hard to beat chaetomorpha. Doesn't go sexual, grows fast, I've never seen it spread to the main tank.

Just thought I'd throw in a photo of Botryocladia.
18377botr01.jpg
 
Frick-n-Frags,

Thanks for sharing. Does the unknown caulerpa-like stuff grow very fast? How far are you from Columbus?

Peace,
Kevin
 
ricordiaking: Chaetomorpha never crashes like Caulerpa. I highly recommend it as your bread-n-butter macro. Of the Caulerpas I have, the feather crashes every time then comes back. It all crashed out right now, so i had to use an old photo. But it will be back. The taxifolia and racemosa also occasionally crash out. The razor (C. serrulata) has never crashed. The worst it does is fizzle out slowly, but it is real like tough scraggly stuff.

But, I am having some problems with it(chaeto that is) spreading to my main tanks. But I'm not surprised as i probably have at least 2 cubic feet of it in my algae sump, so it probably cranks out beau coup spores.

mogurnda, that looks just like what I had to pull out because it was shading my gorgonian frag. It was a beauty, but I had to crop it. The stump is still there with one little bubble on it :D

kmk. that stuff grows like a possessed weed, just like raging Caulerpa. In fact that has been the pest of the week this week (besides Ventricaria bubble). It runs off of runners/vines just like Caulerpa, except it is very fine. It is not in my books, but it seems to behave just like Caulerpa.

I am at mile marker 232 on I-71, as it is right in my back yard. I amd closest to Rt-82 and Rt 303 exits, but the turnpike is one short exit north of Rt 82.

My tanks look like the woods or a weed field, a jumble of everything, but I have noticed, no one thing easily can dominate in this setup.
I had some C. prolifera from Jimmy and some Sargassum from Ryan Baker, but those have fizzled and never come back. I would like to replace both of those and also get some Gracilaria and some Codium to add to the mix (if they will live this time)

Needless to say, I dose a lot of kent iron to keep it all cooking, but I love my Dr Seuss macros as much as my corals. :D
 
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Your going to make me drag out the camera and tank pictures? :eek1: Actually it's something I really need to do anywhy. Anyone want to take a 10 year old kid and wife off my hands for a few weeks so I can play? :D

Anyhow, here's a good Ulva lactuca pic.

bg0ofs55.jpg
 
Frick-n-Frags, am I correct in understanding that you have all this stuff in the main tank, too, not just refugium? Do you have tangs? I'm wondering if the macroalgae grows fast enough that you can keep it in the main tank with 1 tang.
 
Well, I have 3 main tanks, a prop tub and an algae fuge only dedicated to Chaetomorpha all hooked to the same dark sump. The "junk box" 50 gal is an overgrown prop tank basically, which is where this jungle grows. My SPS tank is kept clear of the jungle. So, maybe call it a multi-refugium system as I also keep Mithrax crabs out of the "junk box" so they don't trash all the featherdusters which IMO provide some live zooplankton for my SPS. The Mithrax crabs in with the SPS keep the tank pretty bare of accessory plants/critters, so it works out well to divvy up the critters in different tanks based on what I want to do.
Did that make any sense? :D I really like being able to set up different tanks with different conditions(like lighting and flow) and mixes of life for an overall pretty stable setup.


regarding a tang. You probably wouild just have to try out some macros and see. Although maybe adding a tang to a pretty lush tank might let the algae last longer than letting a tang loose on only a few small patches of stuff.
 
Can't remember the source of the photo, but I saw a German guys huge system (Dutch or Leiden-style) with about a 50/50 mix of corals and huge tracts of macros all of many species. There was a tang in the pic who looked like a fat, happy tourist at a Vegas buffet! Guess the guy let the tang do his pruning for him, as there looked to be more macro than he could ever decimate before it grew back.
 
frick and frags, do you have any idea what that red fuzzy algae is. I have that stuff growing in my fuge also, by it's a damn pest that never goes away. It tends to grow along the bottom of my grape caluerpa and eventually up and sufficates it. have you had similar probs with it. if left unchecked it seems to grow in thick mats. I've trying to figure out what it is forever, but know one has been able to give me an answer. and no matter what I do I can't erradicate it form my fuge. funny thing is it has never chowed up in my main tank Thank god.

hopefully someone will read this and tell us.
Frank
 
I have a CD with about 50 species on it of various plants we collect each year in the Keys for a course on seaweeds we teach here.
I recently sent it to another Marine botanist at UF at Jacksonville.

My goal for marine plants is to develop a CD that is cheap and available for people to use like the one Shaun Whiterton did at UNC for FW plants, but for macrine plants from the West and also one for the Eastern coast of the USA. We should be able to a grant to do this. Shaun and I will be working for the same Dept soon in CA so we will certainly get togwether for a key.

The key allows for much easier identification for laymen.
I will also add a few more pics to my marine plant tank soon.
I've broken the tank down sadly but I have to move from FL to CA.....
but there will be another plant fest for the Marine plants in FL this June for 3 days.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
One algae and three plants when I recieved them from a collector in Florida. Comments are with the pics in my gallery.
Udotea "mermaid's fan"
Syringodium "Manatee grass"
Syringodium flowers - I think
Thallasia "Turtle grass"
Thalassia roots
Halodule beaudettei "Shoal grass"
I tried to keep these with a Diadema and Mespilia urchin for the last 2 months, and to make a long story short, the urchins are gone now, and the grass and a nub of Udotea are barely hanging on. Udotea seems to be a great and easy to establish sandbed algae, but urchins - and I'd guess some surgeonfish - think it is candy. The Diadema kept the grass mowed short, as well.
 
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