A macroalgae reef engineer: Have you kept Halimeda in your tank?

[Peace River]

A macroalgae reef engineer: Have you kept Halimeda in your tank?

A fast-growing macro algae that deposits calcium carbonate, Halimeda sp. can be an interesting and useful addition to your reef. While not for everyone, Halimeda offers an alternative to Caulerpa. While grazing fish may not be drawn to this macroalgae, it has been found to be an effective reef engineer in the wild. In the tank Halimeda provides effective nutrient export and doesn’t require high levels of light. Please let us know if you have ever kept Halimeda in your tank. If you have we encourage you to share your experiences, pictures, and any tips that you can share!

Photo by @Triton US


This QOTD is sponsored by: www.tidalgardens.com

“The goal of Tidal Gardens is to offer the highest quality corals to those seeking a piece of that world without destroying it. We hope to instill a deep appreciation for the natural reefs and help develop a self sustaining hobby that no longer requires the collection of fish and corals.”

 

[Cichlid Dad]

I purchased Tampa Bay Saltwater live rock that came with a very small patch attached. That was a month ago. It is growing very fast. I did not know what it was until this post, but I'm very pleased so far. The rocks are in my sump

 

[MBruun]

I had Halimeda growing all over my rocks for like 1.5 years. Looks very nice, but as they died off they compose to white powdery stuff, and as I had a lot I got a lot white powder .... so when I upgraded to a larger tank I got rid of them

 

[shwareefer]

I love it but I've never been able to keep it long term.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I too was not able to keep Halimeda growing long term the couple of times I tried it.

 

[JoJosReef]

Wasn't able to keep it growing. I like the look of it, but my halimeda ended up covered in coraline algae ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[AvidReefer]

It came on my live rock and grows like crazy!
Also got mermaid's fan macro on live rock

 

[mryan04290]

currently have a bunch in my 14 cube as a means of nutrient export! I also do work at my university collecting wild halimeda here in Florida to help study ciguatera poisoning since the little critters that produce it THRIVE on halimeda and dictyota. so me and halimeda are very well acquainted! Gotta love having a truly endless supply of this stuff from the lab!

 

[Patx]

I got the "small" for decade.
They are pretty white when light turn on and turn green later.

 

[MT. Reefer]

mryan04290​

I am not familiar with ciguatera poisoning or the critters that produce it. My wife and I are going to the KEYS next week and I was planning on bringing some Halimeda back for my tank. Are these critters attached to the plant and if so is this a threat to my tank/

 

[MT. Reefer]

currently have a bunch in my 14 cube as a means of nutrient export! I also do work at my university collecting wild halimeda here in Florida to help study ciguatera poisoning since the little critters that produce it THRIVE on halimeda and dictyota. so me and halimeda are very well acquainted! Gotta love having a truly endless supply of this stuff from the lab!

I am not familiar with ciguatera poisoning or the critters that produce it. My wife and I are going to the KEYS next week and I was planning on bringing some Halimeda back for my tank. Are these critters attached to the plant and if so is this a threat to my tank/

 

[mryan04290]

I am not familiar with ciguatera poisoning or the critters that produce it. My wife and I are going to the KEYS next week and I was planning on bringing some Halimeda back for my tank. Are these critters attached to the plant and if so is this a threat to my tank/

As long as you don’t plan on eating anything in your tank you’ll be perfectly fine! Here’s a link to the main project we work on for more information! https://www.ciguapire.org/research

 

[Nemo&Friends]

Over 10 years ago, when I a friend gave me his tank as he was going out of the hobby, I had Halimeda. I liked it, but after on or 2 years it went sexual, and never came back.
Recently I decided to try again. I got some from gulf coast about 2 month ago. It is not doing very well, so I am just wandering what to do to help it. I am not sure if it should be in the sand or glued on the rocks.
I do not have corals, so I could put it anywhere.

 

[Alexraptor]

Used to have tons of the stuff growing everywhere when I had T5's.

Unfotunately it all died out when I made the transition to LED. Here's one of my previous Mandarins cavorting around a Halimeda forest.

 

[carol3]

I have two macroalgae only tanks and I really like the Halimeda, it's a nice dark green color and grows easily for me. It is a calcareous algae so it sucks up the calcium, I dose ChaetoGro and Easy Green fertilizer (it's a comprehensive freshwater fertilizer) and do weekly water changes. I use T5's on both of the macro tanks. If you have algae eating creatures in your tank Halimeda is one of the few algaes they will likely leave alone.

ALEXRAPTOR, that is a great photo!

 

[JonGrog]

My halimeda always takes off right before I have a big coral growth spurt!

 

[hikermike]

I too have tried off and on and have never gotten it to grow. My caulerpa on the other hand....

 

[Cary Meredith]

I have some growing really well in my 30g, anyone know which nutrient's it's consuming the most, I seem to have really good daily growth, haven't measure pull chunk's off every couple of day's so it doesn't take over.

 

[Subsea]

I am not familiar with ciguatera poisoning or the critters that produce it. My wife and I are going to the KEYS next week and I was planning on bringing some Halimeda back for my tank. Are these critters attached to the plant and if so is this a threat to my tank/

The bacteria that produce Ciguatera live in 100-200’ of water inside of black coral. Parrot fish grazing, carry bacteria up the food chain into apex predators like barracuda. The Caribbean is a hot spot for Ciguatera with barracuda

 

[Cthulukelele]

It grew like the plague in my sunlit t5 tank but turned to dust in my led reef. My local coral farm place grew it under exclusively sunlight in a greenhouse. They seem to love natural light/lots of white light and don't seem to like our bluer led reef lighting.