What macro are you growing?

[xtlosx]

Hey guys... So I'm just trying to get an idea of what people are using for macro in their fuge... With my much much larger fuge than I had available in my old tank I'm ready to grow!

I have a small piece of chaeto that I just could never get any growth on (first three months with a 6500k CFL), and some Feather Caulerpa. I started with one or two strands of Feather Caulerpa and now I have to trim back half of it weekly or else it grows like mad...

Tonight I picked up a nice LED bulb that is 5k in rating, so we'll see how the chaeto and macro responds. I've read a lot of positive reviews and curious to see if my old crappy CFL just wasn't cutting it.

What do you guys run in your fuges?

 

[DopeCantWin]

How many watt leds?

 

[xtlosx]

How many watt leds?

13w , 75w equivalent but boy it lights up the fuge much more than the 65w I had before.

I'm tempted to make a shelf like thing that keeps my chaeto flat and ofthe ground.... I have extra egg crate lying around.

 

[Pigpen80]

Cheato and caulerpa here. Had mangroves before, but just got rid of them.

 

[xtlosx]

Cheato and caulerpa here. Had mangroves before, but just got rid of them.

What kind of caulerpa? Ever worry about if going sexual?

 

[chris1292]

Red mangrove

 

[xtlosx]

From what I was reading, there needs to be a LOT of mangroves to make muhc of a difference in nitrate reduction.. and I mean a lot. For me, there isn't enough room and it just doesn't make sense..

Chaeto and Caulerpa from what I had read is the best macros.. Maybe we need to setup a local macro swap or something.

 

[chris1292]

Never liked chaeto tried it 3 times never got it right and it died. Dont want caulerpa going sexual. And to be honest the mangroves are jur more for fun of growing I know they dont do much but I think they look cool

 

[xtlosx]

Never liked chaeto tried it 3 times never got it right and it died. Dont want caulerpa going sexual. And to be honest the mangroves are jur more for fun of growing I know they dont do much but I think they look cool

I'm in the same camp with you and the chaeto business... The feather caulerpa doesn't go sexual from what I understand but might not be the greatest nutrient exporter. Regardless, it grows like crazy in my fuge and I need to trim it constantly so it is doing something... Mangroves do look neat, but the room that I do have, I would rather use it for chaeto\caulerpa. If I had a HUGE 40B fuge, a good chunk would be mangroves.

 

[BigBarnacles]

Chaeto and red mangroves.

 

[taylor t]

I've got 4. Chaeto, grape, leaf, and feather caulerpa. Never had it spawn. The feather is very invasive.

 

[devoixmr]

chaeto under 23watt 6500k cfl bulb from lowes. It increases its size by maybe 1/4 or more every month

 

[xtlosx]

I've got 4. Chaeto, grape, leaf, and feather caulerpa. Never had it spawn. The feather is very invasive.

+1 it sure is..... I tend to have to rip out or trim it almost constantly or else it just takes over..

On the bright side, now that I switched over to the 5k LED, my chaeto seems to actually be growing...

Care to donate any of the other caulerpas you have when they need trimming?

 

[yogoshio]

I like caulerpa better. Grows like a beast and does nutrient export much better than chaeto. I run a diverse fuge though, I have caulerpa, chaeto, dragons breath, and one more. Best thing is to have a wide variety that each likes one type of nutrient over the other. And as long as lights are on 24/7, caulerpa doesn't go sexual IME. There's a LFS by me that's used the same batch of caulerpa they got over 15 years ago on their display tanks and sell it by the bag and still have to throw most of it away as it outgrows their fuge. Never once went sexual.

 

[taylor t]

Care to donate any of the other caulerpas you have when they need trimming?

Sure, the next time we hook up, remind me.

 

[Timber77]

kenya tree is good grows fast for nutrient export. The more lighting the better in general on a 55 fuge 2 250 10k and just cheato and kenya trees , never worried about anything going sexual