Crimson seaweed: What is your experience with red macroalgae?

[Pelagikos]

IU love the stuff, the color, the hardiness but they dont stand a chance with the amount of tangs I have

I'm receiving another Bristletooth tomorrow. Lost one several months ago to a bacterial explosion overnight or something? I'm not sure exactly what happened. It was after a larger water change. I have a court jester goby, fire shrimp, two clowns, three blue green chromis and three pajama fish that made it through. Lost my Blotched Anthias too!!
But back to the point. I understand that Bristletooth are only interested in like green hair algae and really fine filamentous type stuff... Am I in trouble? Lol? Lol

 

[vetteguy53081]

I'm receiving another Bristletooth tomorrow. Lost one several months ago to a bacterial explosion overnight or something? I'm not sure exactly what happened. It was after a larger water change. I have a court jester goby, fire shrimp, two clowns, three blue green chromis and three pajama fish that made it through. Lost my Blotched Anthias too!!
But back to the point. I understand that Bristletooth are only interested in like green hair algae and really fine filamentous type stuff... Am I in trouble? Lol? Lol

Every fish has its own personality and likings. Only time will tell but with microalgae, the guilty fish are my yellows and my naso and Gem

 

[Pelagikos]

Every fish has its own personality and likings. Only time will tell but with microalgae, the guilty fish are my yellows and my naso and Gem

Everything I'm reading about Tomini, is that they'd rather have the fine stuff so I'm banking on that. Of course I want them to be healthy, so if that includes eating my macro then so be it. Lessons learned right? Apparently the pom pom is pretty unpalatable due to "toughest of structure and texture" so I'm hoping that's the case. It does look pretty neat in the tank.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Everything I'm reading about Tomini, is that they'd rather have the fine stuff so I'm banking on that. Of course I want them to be healthy, so if that includes eating my macro then so be it. Lessons learned right? Apparently the pom pom is pretty unpalatable due to "toughest of structure and texture" so I'm hoping that's the case. It does look pretty neat in the tank.

I have pom pom and my tomini and tangs dont look at it. Macro may be safe with Tomini

 

[tc760]

I have had great success with red ogo from algae barn. It grows better than cheato in my tank.

 

[Wasabiroot]

Big fan of Gracilaria in particular. It is my preferred macroalgae for my refugium as it is easy to remove, doesn't get full of gunk, and has thicker growth making flow a bit easier to figure out.

I get good results with the following:
1. Good flow is paramount. I notice insane growth rates with increased circulation. I have a maxi jet pump in there keeping the water moving. If your flow is insufficient the algae will choke itself out and get clogged with crap, and nutrients will not reach enough of the algae.
2. Natural sunlight color temperature is more than sufficient, but reef tank lighting works well too. IMHO for some algae we overthink spectrum. These organisms have been around hundreds of millions of years. They're not going to go "myeahhh,no" if the light is slightly blue or red, but a simple grow light with good intensity does great. Since the algae is red, that means it's reflecting red light the most so I would probably steer clear of red. The brightness of your lighting will determine growth rate.
3. Detectable nitrates. Phosphates are less important, but Gracilaria is cultured on large scale in areas where water has detectable nutrients.
4. Studies show pH has a correlation with growth. The closer to 8.0, the better. Below 7 it will start to die off. Brighter lighting will help with that. More photosynthesis = more consumption of CO2 = higher pH.
5. Supplementation with iron/potassium. Gracilaria is nutritionally dense and contains high amounts of iron, calcium, and potassium. A small amount of iron supplement anecdotally boosted growth for me. I don't go out of my way to add too much potassium, but it's likely the algae is taking up whatever I dose as well.
6. Periodic thinning. Gracilaria has separate, free-living sporophyte and gametophyte stages. Periodic thinning helps sustain growth and prevents culture crash from spores. About once every two weeks I take about half of it out.

 

[dennis romano]

I've tried several types but the butterflies consider it a snack.

 

[To(meany)Tang]

Thank you but I read that on the website as well and seeking personal experience from Flashsmith as he mentioned getting improved performance when limiting light intensity. Trying to understand why that was and perhaps duration of light period the reason behind it which is the approach I'm seeking to do. Probably similar to what is being discovered with corals as to light duration vs light intensity.

I'm assuming that by Pom Pom he was referring to Hayi.

Marine Plants in the Aquarium

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From my understanding because I had this same question. Algae like any plant gets its green color from chlorophyll which is produced with the help of the sun..aside from the species of algae the closer to the sun the more chlorophyll it takes in the more greener.. deeper waters receive less sunlight resulting in less chlorophyll production leading to red brown and purple algaes..which is why less light intensity grows red better...if it's red and found near the surface my only conclusion I could think of is that another blanket of algae was on top of it therefore reduced chlorophyll production on the underside of the algae. I learned this when researching why there's red and green nori and what's the difference between the 2. Lol hope that helps

 

[GARRIGA]

From my understanding because I had this same question. Algae like any plant gets its green color from chlorophyll which is produced with the help of the sun..aside from the species of algae the closer to the sun the more chlorophyll it takes in the more greener.. deeper waters receive less sunlight resulting in less chlorophyll production leading to red brown and purple algaes..which is why less light intensity grows red better...if it's red and found near the surface my only conclusion I could think of is that another blanket of algae was on top of it therefore reduced chlorophyll production on the underside of the algae. I learned this when researching why there's red and green nori and what's the difference between the 2. Lol hope that helps

My understanding being green plants reflect green and red plants reflect red. Therefore, not apparently utilizing that they reflect. Deeper water has red already filtered out therefore not sure why red plants are red at depth and understand that certain gracilaria will turn green as well as brown.

Not knowing what to believe. Just makes sense to offer full spectrum and allow the plant to absorb and reflect as it pleases. The question then becomes how intense and at what duration. Might just be that every tank being different then best just experiment since both easy to manipulate.

Was hoping to run 24/7 vs having two offsetting refugiums and then allow PH to determine when lights go off because that went to high based on the fact photosinthesis removes CO2. The latter being the main and only reason I'd bother with a refugium vs carbon dosing and phosphate maintenance via other means since the refugium will tax my trace, takes up space, requires lighting and more pumps for circulation. No plans of adding to a main display.

 

[bkhunt]

I had tried a refugium several times with cheato and several different lights and always failed. I have recently got a small ball of red macro that has now doubled or tripled in size. I just over the weekend added some cheato again hoping that i now have the right combo of things to be successful. I am also now on the hunt for another couple varieties of red macro to see if i can grow them.

 

[JoJosReef]

IU love the stuff, the color, the hardiness but they dont stand a chance with the amount of tangs I have

Does anything stand a chance against your tangs? How about codium? Halimeda?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Does anything stand a chance against your tangs? How about codium? Halimeda?

Both you mentioned are thicker mass and halmeda I believe would survive, , not so much codium

 

[Nemo&Friends]

My rabbit fish and hippo tang love codium. I give it to them when I trim my macro tank, even a big chunk does not last more than one day. They also love dragon breath.

 

[NeedAReef]

I grow some in my sump rather than chaeto. My sump flow is slower than the chaeto seems to like but the gracilaria loves it. Grows a like a weed. I pick some out every month or so and give it to my lfs. They feed the angels and tangs who devour it and color up (which I like to think helps them sell more). Beats throwing it out and they are happy to give me some goodies in return.

 

[dochoot]

Very happy with clumps of Dragons Tongue.

 

[TheOldSalt]

I like to use real live rock from the Gulf of Mexico, and the stuff almost always has plenty of red algae on it, along with green and brown algaes.
I find that the brown algae usually fades away while the green microalgaes take over the tank. The reds usually surge for awhile until the greens take over, and I do mean surge. For the first few months after setup I'm usually pulling out just as much red as green, but the red dies back eventually. It smells funny, too. I understand that some people like to eat it, but I don't think I'll ever be one of them.

I have noticed that the red stuff grows better in darker, dirtier tanks that aren't fully established and not equipped with super bright lights. I grew bucketloads of it back when I used VHO lights, but under the new LEDs it doesn't do as well for me.

 

[hwx080080]

Crimson seaweed: What is your experience with red macroalgae?

Red macroalgae is gorgeous and (at least in my case) seemingly elusive! Of all the types of macroalgae, I have found red macroalgae to be more challenging. Today let’s talk about your experience with red macroalgae – have you tried to grow it in your tank? Have you been successful? If so, please share your tips and we’d love to see your pictures!

Photo by @Tigahboy

 

[Wasabiroot]

Keep in mind that your pH will likely not swing a very significant amount if there are other factors keeping it low (i.e. indoor space, good surface diffusion/open top, alternative dosing like with All for Reef ) so it's likely easier to just go with a set photoperiod like 10-12 hrs. 24hr is certainly doable but the primary benefit is during the night when your corals aren't performing photosynthesis. I think a lot of life does a bit better with a set dark and light period also, but that's my opinion

 

[Neptune 555]

I need nutrient control from my refugium... Any suggestions on the rapid growers who will maximise nutrient uptake? I currently have chaeto... it grows but its not pretty and I can't feed my fish when it overgrows its space. I would love to add macro to my sump as i spend a lot of time looking at my sump... and I am trying to grow pods for my mandarins.

 

[Wasabiroot]

I need nutrient control from my refugium... Any suggestions on the rapid growers who will maximise nutrient uptake? I currently have chaeto... it grows but its not pretty and I can't feed my fish when it overgrows its space. I would love to add macro to my sump as i spend a lot of time looking at my sump... and I am trying to grow pods for my mandarins.

Ulva, but it can be messy from what I've heard. I'm sure someone who has used it has more info