Are there any Saltwater plant? If yes what are the best ones? (Plus a Coral Question)

Invadetor

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Sorry if it is a stupid question, but neither in my LFS nor in any image of a reef tank on internet I've never seen any Saltwater Plants, so I was wondering if there actually are to begin with...
if they do exist I wanted to know if they work similarly to Freshwater plant, so like, if they absorb Nitrate, give Oxygen and etc... just like Freshwater plants!
Said all of that, what do you think are the best for a beginner, and that also don't "ruin" the look of a reef tank without plants?
Bonus question: Do Corals also work like plants? Like removing some Nitrate and etc...? Whatever the case, are there any corals good for beginners? I really like zoantharia corals and soft corals!

Anyway thank for the help, and sorry again for the dumb question!
 

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The majority of plant like things in this hobby are macroalgaes. They are fast growing protists that form simple multicellular structures and are often used as the primary means of nitrate and phosphate reduction in a reef tank.


Corals, like any other living thing, require nitrogen and phosphorus. However, they do not grow fast enough to make a difference in most tanks unless you have a tremendous amount and lots of growth.



Most soft bodies corals in the hobby are very easy. Zoanthid types, many leathers, mushrooms, etc. are very easy to care for
 

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If your local LFS doesn't know the answer to this, I suggest finding a new store!
As far as actual "plants", one of the most common one you will see reefers using are Mangroves.
There are a number of macro-algae's that reefers use to reduce nutrients as well: Chaeto, Calupera (grape), etc.

"Easy" beginner corals to me mean corals that will tolerate un-stable conditions. Zoas, GSP, polyps and some softies.
 

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Take a look here, especially the stickied threads at the top!

 
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The majority of plant like things in this hobby are macroalgaes. They are fast growing protists that form simple multicellular structures and are often used as the primary means of nitrate and phosphate reduction in a reef tank.


Corals, like any other living thing, require nitrogen and phosphorus. However, they do not grow fast enough to make a difference in most tanks unless you have a tremendous amount and lots of growth.



Most soft bodies corals in the hobby are very easy. Zoanthid types, many leathers, mushrooms, etc. are very easy to care for
Oh I see, Macroalgaes don't look that bad at all, they look pretty cool! Do I need to plant them in the ground? And where can I buy them? Or do they just appear randomly like some algae in Freshwater aquarium?
That cool, than I guess I'll start with zoanthids! Thank for the help!
 
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If your local LFS doesn't know the answer to this, I suggest finding a new store!
As far as actual "plants", one of the most common one you will see reefers using are Mangroves.
There are a number of macro-algae's that reefers use to reduce nutrients as well: Chaeto, Calupera (grape), etc.

"Easy" beginner corals to me mean corals that will tolerate un-stable conditions. Zoas, GSP, polyps and some softies.
Nonono, I just said that they didn't have any Saltwater plants! I actually never asked this to them ahahahah!
Anyway, I'll probably go with macroalgaes than, saw that they look really good!
Yes, that what I meant to for Easy corals... in few words corals that can survive small mistakes that I do (which hopefully I won't), like overfeeding, underfeeding and etc...
Anyway thank for the help, cool to know that Zoas are easy saw that I love them the most ahahahah!
 

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Here is my fuge with macro algae.
20211127_152738.jpg
 

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Oh I see, Macroalgaes don't look that bad at all, they look pretty cool! Do I need to plant them in the ground? And where can I buy them? Or do they just appear randomly like some algae in Freshwater aquarium?
That cool, than I guess I'll start with zoanthids! Thank for the help!


Lots of palces and people sell them. The key is to get them from a pest free source. Algaebarn is the most well known. Rarely do you get it as a hitchhiker as they tend to get eaten.

They will attach to rocks and what not, but clean up crew and fish love to eat them. Most people put them in their sumps in a refugium.


And for the zoa, one tip is to have them on a little island or small rock as some (especially some palythoas) can spread very fast.
 
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Mangroves! No true plant can handle the salt. Kelp isn't even a plant.
Woah, that's strange! So in the Ocean there really is not plant at all? Only rocks, algae and corals'
But anyway thank for the info!
 
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Lots of palces and people sell them. The key is to get them from a pest free source. Algaebarn is the most well known. Rarely do you get it as a hitchhiker as they tend to get eaten.

They will attach to rocks and what not, but clean up crew and fish love to eat them. Most people put them in their sumps in a refugium.


And for the zoa, one tip is to have them on a little island or small rock as some (especially some palythoas) can spread very fast.
Oh, I see, thank for that site, once the tank will be set up I'll make sure to buy them and add them in the refugium, and in the actual tank too! Wouldn't the Macroalgae grow faster than how much a pair of cleaner Shrimp will eat? I might have underestimated the eating power of these little fellows ahahahah!

I actually remember of having read something about putting the Zoas in a small rock! Said that wouldn't they just grow in the sand and than go everywhere? In case they do spread that fast, what should I do? Do I need to cut them?
Anyway thank again for the help!
 

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Woah, that's strange! So in the Ocean there really is not plant at all? Only rocks, algae and corals'
But anyway thank for the info!
Well, no. As @Spare time stated, there are quite a few species of sea grasses, which actually are true flowering plants. Most of them, however, aren't particularly suited for tropical aquaria and don't tend to be a look that many people are trying to achieve. They're also pretty difficult to source. You can do a search on this site for a people who have done this right.

If you're going to go with macroalgae, I'd start with halymenia. It's a very attractive, red, bushy, and free-floating species that tolerates a huge range of water conditions (including poor water conditions) and low lighting. You can anchor it to a piece of rock with an elastic band, but that (flyaway elastic bands) can lead to its own problems. The downside is that most aquarium inhabitants find it to be very tasty.

One of the few aquarium algaes that has "roots" (called a holdfast) is halimeda. While certain forms are very attractive, you need to keep a close eye on water parameters to grow it well.
 
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Pom Pom is pretty cool . Not a plant though its a macroalgae also
Well even if they aren't plant, but still absorb some level of Nitrate, than that's cool! Plus in general those Pom Pom look really cute, they kind of remind me of Freshwater Morimo Moss Balls ahahahah!
 
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Well, no. As @Spare time stated, there are quite a few species of sea grasses, which actually are true flowering plants. Most of them, however, aren't particularly suited for tropical aquaria and don't tend to be a look that many people are trying to achieve. They're also pretty difficult to source. You can do a search on this site for a people who have done this right.

If you're going to go with macroalgae, I'd start with halymenia. It's a very attractive, red, bushy, and free-floating species that tolerates a huge range of water conditions (including poor water conditions) and low lighting. You can anchor it to a piece of rock with an elastic band, but that (flyaway elastic bands) can lead to its own problems. The downside is that most aquarium inhabitants find it to be very tasty.

One of the few aquarium algaes that has "roots" (called a holdfast) is halimeda. While certain forms are very attractive, you need to keep a close eye on water parameters to grow it well.
Thank for the Halymenia suggestion, they really do look really attractive! Hope the clean-up crew won't completely eat it all up to quickly ahahahah! I think I saw them in AlgaeBarn, but I'm not 100% sure!
Anyway thank for that other plant too, I might be able to keep it, saw that I've been keeping a lot of different plants in my aquarium! Thank for the help again!
 

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Well even if they aren't plant, but still absorb some level of Nitrate
If your tank happen to have low nutrients as mine, you will have to supply them by dosing, the same as for a freshwater planted tank, more work to do.

There is a wide variety of macroalgae for saltwater tanks:
  • some can become invasive as caulerpa and better to keep it away from display,
  • some, as chaetomorpha, are more suitable for refugium, rotating in the flow and sometimes even falling apart without reason, polluting display,
  • using calcium as Halimeda,
  • sensitive as some thin walled red gracillaria, dying no matter what you do, while thick walled Gracilaria parvispora is doing perfectly well,
  • blue Hypnea grew well for me in low light, high nutrients tank.

You can see examples of planted saltwater tanks in search for marine macroalgae tank or setup.
 

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There’s plenty of beautiful macro algae in the hobby that looks like plants, they are beautiful compared to fresh plants imo, but for some reason I can never keep one, they always die on me, it’s probably due to their light needs being different than coral which uses mostly full spectrum, but if I use those light gha will take over and macro algae will die, you definitely need to find that Goldilocks spot to keep them thriving. One of the most beariful macro algae is the dragons breath macro, i believe algae barn sells them and other macros.
 

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Also note that most hermit crabs will eat macro algae and some species of snail and you can definitely can’t keep a sea urchin as that is one of their main diet In the wild.
 

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