which tank should i keep my macros in?

[jwalters103]

ive been wanting to keep a mixed display for a while now, and i have accumulated some turtle grass, halimeda, codium, and shaving brushes that i want to use. im trying to figure out which display to put them in initially(i plan to eventually incorporate them into all my displays). my main tank is 125 gallons and is being converted to sps as we speak. it has metal halide lighting supplemented with vhos, but has 0 nitrates. my seahorse tank is 37 gallons (tall) mostly softies, nitrates read about 25, but the lighting is a little wimpy. it has 2 30 inch t5's which i think comes to 36 watts. i plan to add 2 more of these t5 fixtures to the tank eventually, but for the time being, this is where it stands. i also have a 2 1/2 gallon nano with 18 watts of pc lighting and a 10 gallon angler tank with NO fluorescent lighting. the last 2 always have detectable nitrates and phosphates.


soooooo, which tank would be best to start these macros in to ensure their survival? i am not against dosing nitrate or adding bioballs to the sump of the main display(sps) as long as i can keep phosphates to a minimum.

thanks in advance.

 

[jwalters103]

to simplify, i think what im asking is whats more important---light or nitrates?

 

[Brock Fluharty]

I think (for caulerpa at least, not 100% sure about the others) nitrates are much more important. I have some prolifera in my seahorse tank, which has NO flourescents (20 gallon tall tank, totals about 16 watts or so...) and it is thriving. I have to prune massively every month or my horses literally cannot move. It overtakes my sandbed, rockwork, and grows to the top of the tank. I thin out smaller amount weekly, and use them to feed my tangs, but massive amounts come out every month. I am talking probably over 100 leaves come out. I then sell it to LFS, or give it away online.

 

[Samala]

Right, I wouldnt stick them in the sps tanks. Is the 'turtle grass' you have Thalassia (the true seagrass) or is it turtle weed, the macroalgae.. Chlorodesmis? If you have a bunch of macros they should do fine in any of the last three tanks, even though the lighting seems to be comparatively wimpy to the main SPS tank. Many many SH keepers (like Brock here) keep macros successfully under lower light levels than you might expect. I dont think your seahorses would complain at all about any of the plants you've listed.

(PS: Brock, how fun to see you here! )

>Sarah

 

[jwalters103]

it is thalasia---m thinking was that the horses would like all of this as hitching posts as well as a place to grow and hunt pods

 

[Samala]

Hmm, well the Thalassia is an exception then, its going to want some stronger light than the three tanks you have. I dont know if its a good idea to place it in an SPS reef or not honestly.

>Sarah

 

[Brock Fluharty]

Hey Samala! yeah, i'm starting to check out other forums, and especially the SIG forums. They are all so interesting, and I have had experience with most of the SIG's here on RC.