Planning my macro algae/ seagrass tank

[nawilson89]

How is lighting spectrum different for fresh water plants as opposed to macro algae? Especially with respect to LED?

Unfortunately I don't have the answer to that, lighting has never been my strong point and has been my downfall in multiple instances. My current 20g tank has been my best attempt with a planted tank because of knowledge that I've learned from reading on RC and a much better light.

So... what I did was make a thread on a planted tank forum and also on reddit.

Both times (the planted tank forum answer came to me JUST before I saw that Subsea had responded) the answer was that the lights should work both ways.

Only thing to do now is to try. If it doesn't work, I now know. If it does work then it should be the best planted tank I've done.

One thing I did run into whilst looking at lighting in the first place was look into hydroponic lighting which used alot of red lighting to grow plants. My bulbs do have a significant amount of red lighting, as you've seen my pictures have alot of pink and purple tint. So hopefully the red lighting in my refugium bulbs will help grow these freshwater plants.

 

[Subsea]

Unfortunately I don't have the answer to that, lighting has never been my strong point and has been my downfall in multiple instances. My current 20g tank has been my best attempt with a planted tank because of knowledge that I've learned from reading on RC and a much better light.

So... what I did was make a thread on a planted tank forum and also on reddit.

Both times (the planted tank forum answer came to me JUST before I saw that Subsea had responded) the answer was that the lights should work both ways.

Only thing to do now is to try. If it doesn't work, I now know. If it does work then it should be the best planted tank I've done.

One thing I did run into whilst looking at lighting in the first place was look into hydroponic lighting which used alot of red lighting to grow plants. My bulbs do have a significant amount of red lighting, as you've seen my pictures have alot of pink and purple tint. So hopefully the red lighting in my refugium bulbs will help grow these freshwater plants.

I like the mix of spectrum. It is particularly pleasing to view in bulk water. I would think it would work on fresh water plants. When I view horticulture bulbs, I view the spectrum graph for bulb in question. They are always high in red spectrum. I do not know why fresh water lamps often look Yellow.

 

[nawilson89]

I like the mix of spectrum. It is particularly pleasing to view in bulk water. I would think it would work on fresh water plants. When I view horticulture bulbs, I view the spectrum graph for bulb in question. They are always high in red spectrum. I do not know why fresh water lamps often look Yellow.

Precisely why I've failed in the past. at the times that I tried planted tanks whether salt or fresh, I went for stronger lighting mot regarding what spectrums I needed. I've achieved alright growth in the past with a lot of decay, now I want to do much better with this new build.

 

[Subsea]

I though C. lentellifera was grape caulerpa? I have tons of it. Hmmm... Oh well. People eat it. :hmm3:

Try some with a basamic vinegrete.

I have eaten Red Ogo (Gracilaria Parvispora) straight from the tank. I also put Red Ogo in a ceviche. However, it needs be kept seperate from lime juice until time to eat.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

No posts from you lately. Have you gone over to the fresh side?

 

[nawilson89]

No posts from you lately. Have you gone over to the fresh side?

Ahhh. I had the flu for a bit. I need to update on my tank in the morning!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

D'oh! Tis the season…feel better!

 

[nawilson89]

Alright so update time!

Can't believe i was off here for so long. So it's been around 3 weeks... lets see.

My 10mth old daughter was her first cold and that was daunting to me as a parent so i was just a worried wreck for days. Off the back of that I had the flu.

So during my flu I had to watch, because I couldnt move. Macro dying off in my tank. First the Gracilaria. All of it is now gone. It went sexual and nuked a good portion of prolifera which then in turn went sexual. Unfortunately I couldnt do anything, i was to weak from the flu to do anything and I couldnt ask my girlfriend to help because she's ready to pop with our second child, I would rather her not be near that bacteria cesspool.

On the back of algae die off, the dragons breath took in some nutrients and exploded. If you all remember I've been worried about it since it hasn't really grown since getting it.

I also turned off my HoB filter, I think it was filtering too much for my macros to get enough nutrients, I'll let it hang out for a while.

Grape Caulerpa is trying to take over. I can see it reach to the other side of the tank now.

Sargassum propagated itself and has been free floating. I also had some die off.

This weekend I plan on doing a 50% water change and then start back dosing. I had dropped a few plant tabs in the tank and let it take over my dosing whilst I was sick, I'm not sure if it helped or hurt.

I think it's time to add fish again, not sure what to do yet though. I may hit up my friend for Gobies again, before that I'm going to my LFS for some peppermint shrimp though.

I'll take some pics this weekend and upload them to show how everything looks. Tank needs some cleaning and TLC first.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Whew, that's rough! I remember my daughter used to get sick all the time. It almost seems like the human species has gotten more sickly over the course of my lifetime. It probably has!

Our 'habit' has to take a back seat on these occasions.

Hopefully, it's not too bad. Good luck!

 

[nawilson89]

Whew, that's rough! I remember my daughter used to get sick all the time. It almost seems like the human species has gotten more sickly over the course of my lifetime. It probably has!

Our 'habit' has to take a back seat on these occasions.

Hopefully, it's not too bad. Good luck!

It's not that bad at all. Just missing some reds.

I think cleaning up the tank a bit will make it look alot better and get it back on track.

I want to install my new light, but I'm afraid my little ones will look into the light and hurt their eyes, so I havent put it up yet.

 

[Subsea]

Sorry for your illness. Particularly as a young father. Take care of yourself and baby.

Are you going to vacum, when you water change?

Do you use activated carbon? It removes 60-70% of DOC as compared to 30-45% removed by efficient protein skimming. Considering the chemical warefare going on between macro & fish and macro & coral, I always use activated carbon. It is a complex chemistry that happens inside our glass tanks, activated carbon is a cure for many things. The first time I had macro go sexual was on my 130G lagoon with 1000W MH at 6500K. Caulerpa Paspoides & Caulerpa Prolifera were growing by leaps and bounds. As I went to bed that night, I failed to understand the warning signs: white spots on leaves and stems. When I got up the next morning, I could not see the back up the tank. Within 4 hours after using activated carbon in a Cascade cannistar filter with a flow rate of 250GPH, the water was crystal clear.
In any case, I hope you get to feeling better.

 

[nawilson89]

Thanks for the well wishes!

We are doing better!

When I do my water changes I actually don't vacuum. I feed the tank every other day to about every 3 days. Pods, crabs, bristleworms and bacteria take care of the substate. All that's really down there is crab and shrimp molts.

I don't use activated carbon, but it won't hurt to use some; my only question is when I dose, will the carbon absorb it faster than my macros?

 

[Subsea]

Thanks for the well wishes!

We are doing better!

When I do my water changes I actually don't vacuum. I feed the tank every other day to about every 3 days. Pods, crabs, bristleworms and bacteria take care of the substate. All that's really down there is crab and shrimp molts.

I don't use activated carbon, but it won't hurt to use some; my only question is when I dose, will the carbon absorb it faster than my macros?

Activated carbon absorbers dissolved organic carbon. You are dosing inorganic nutrients to fertilize plants. For me activated carbon replaced skimming more than 20 years ago, I am presently experimenting with carbon dosing using vinegar. I feel that carbon dosing is unnecessary in a marine planted tank because during off photo period all photosynthic organisms respire CO2.

 

[nawilson89]

Activated carbon absorbers dissolved organic carbon. You are dosing inorganic nutrients to fertilize plants. For me activated carbon replaced skimming more than 20 years ago, I am presently experimenting with carbon dosing using vinegar. I feel that carbon dosing is unnecessary in a marine planted tank because during off photo period all photosynthic organisms respire CO2.

Sounds good.

I have 5 ounces of activated carbon and filter bags waiting on my amazon for me to get some money.

Excited for this!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is an important food source for filter feeders and tiny plants and animals at the bottom of the food chain. I use carbon for emergencies only. This makes sense for my "the more the merrier, ecosystem in a box" approach.

But Subsea and I have different situations, where he is growing out macros to sell. If I were in his position, I'd probably run carbon, along with a lot of other stuff, to have more control over the variables necessary to drive growth, prevent crashes, etc.

 

[nawilson89]

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is an important food source for filter feeders and tiny plants and animals at the bottom of the food chain. I use carbon for emergencies only. This makes sense for my "the more the merrier, ecosystem in a box" approach.

But Subsea and I have different situations, where he is growing out macros to sell. If I were in his position, I'd probably run carbon, along with a lot of other stuff, to have more control over the variables necessary to drive growth, prevent crashes, etc.

Ahhh so many varying opinions!

It would be beneficial for me to run it for a bit. My water is rather cloudy even with water changes. I feel a crash coming on.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

"My water is rather cloudy even with water changes."

Sounds like a perfect carbon use scenario!

 

[Subsea]

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is an important food source for filter feeders and tiny plants and animals at the bottom of the food chain. I use carbon for emergencies only. This makes sense for my "the more the merrier, ecosystem in a box" approach.

But Subsea and I have different situations, where he is growing out macros to sell. If I were in his position, I'd probably run carbon, along with a lot of other stuff, to have more control over the variables necessary to drive growth, prevent crashes, etc.[/QUOTE


Michael,

Very little DOC is a food source. Most DOC is metabolic waste. In the vastness of the ocean there is enough biodiversity to process these waste. Not so in the aquarium.

From my experiences with the bottom of the food chain, bacteria are the microbial overlords that make it work.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Subsea, it's still food. In my experience, if there is food available, something always pops up to eat it. We can encourage biodiversity, by not filtering out food sources, so our tanks are more like the vastness of the ocean, and better able to filter themselves.

I agree bacteria is important, but like plants and filter feeders and detrivores, it's just part of the puzzle.

 

[Subsea]

"Something always pops up to eat it."

This is the crux of the conversation. With waste water certifications, I have some scientific knowledge on what some of those things are and I do not want them in my tank bulk water. I do not expect my lagoon tank to process everything that I put into it. That is why, I lightly vacum the surface of my sandbed with small partial water changes and use activated carbon. Within the depths of the sandbed, there is much complex chemistry going on that I do not need to see.