Macroalgae and recommendations and a plea for information!

[Tikki]

I have found some cool macro on Etsy and sometimes it hitchhikes in on LFS live rock. I’ve grown gracilaria under cheap freshwater planted aquarium leds as well as reef lights. I just use occasional water changes and pellet auto feeder for the shrimp/nutrient import.

 

[Subsea]

IndoPacific SeaFarm located in Hawaii is my go to place for biodiversity. I don’t know if they ship to Australia.

https://www.ipsf.com/

 

[Introvertedmaniack]

Another source of macro algae would be diver collected live rock. Check out Gulf Live Rock

https://gulfliverock.com/premium-deco-live-rock
PS; “the store owner said that macroalgae he gave me was meant to be pretty hardy, but i think I might have just placed it wrong or something.“

mermaid cup algae (Acetabularia sp). If this is what he gave you, I can say, “I did not find it hardy the three times I tried to grow it”.

I think it was Caulpera racemosa. I'm not sure how hardy that's meant to be :0

 

[Subsea]

Caulerpa Racemosa is very hardy. However, certain fast growing Caulerpa will go sexual if deprived of nutrients while growing fast.

 

[Introvertedmaniack]

Caulerpa Racemosa is very hardy. However, certain fast growing Caulerpa will go sexual if deprived of nutrients while growing fast.

that does not bode well for me! yeesh! as far as im aware my phosphate and nitrate were consistent at that time as well. oh well, with some improved lights and my pH under control (and maybe a larger specimen?) i'm sure it'll be fine. i also hear that sea lettuce (Ulva) or chaeto should be very hardy and grow under most conditions.

 

[Subsea]

that does not bode well for me! yeesh! as far as im aware my phosphate and nitrate were consistent at that time as well

I don’t know enough about your ecosystem to concur.

It’s possible that seaweed was already going downhill before you got it. Know this, you now have spores of that seaweed in your system.

PS: Several years ago, a 55G tank full of red grapes went sexual. I converted the tank to a coral frag growout. Several months later, emerging Bortacladia were growing on everything. Go figure.

 

[Subsea]

that does not bode well for me! yeesh! as far as im aware my phosphate and nitrate were consistent at that time as well. oh well, with some improved lights and my pH under control (and maybe a larger specimen?) i'm sure it'll be fine. i also hear that sea lettuce (Ulva) or chaeto should be very hardy and grow under most conditions.

With respect to major and minor nutrients, it only takes one missing to limit the growth of some seaweeds. With a small tank, I suggest you accomplish that with partial water changes.

Yes, Chaetomorpha & Ulva are hardy, but they don’t display well. In a refugium with pods, they work well.

My interpretation of your goal is a display refugium with Peppermint shrimp as apex predator. I would remove the lobster.

 

[Introvertedmaniack]

With respect to major and minor nutrients, it only takes one missing to limit the growth of some seaweeds. With a small tank, I suggest you accomplish that with partial water changes.

Yes, Chaetomorpha & Ulva are hardy, but they don’t display well. In a refugium with pods, they work well.

My interpretation of your goal is a display refugium with Peppermint shrimp as apex predator. I would remove the lobster.

I really like my little squat lobster, he doesn't seem interested in any plant matter really. he also doesn't burrow at all, just chills on the rocks until some crab cuisine or dainichi marine fx drops into the tank. doesn't bother any other tank inhabitants either. indeed, I want my display tank to have lovely macros! i have no sump or secondary tank due to budget and space constraints :( i do weekly water changes to keep everything clean and good for my lovely tank inhabitants, usually about 1/4th of the water in the tank based on visual estimate alone

 

[Subsea]

I really like my little squat lobster, he doesn't seem interested in any plant matter really. he also doesn't burrow at all, just chills on the rocks until some crab cuisine or dainichi marine fx drops into the tank. doesn't bother any other tank inhabitants either. indeed, I want my display tank to have lovely macros! i have no sump or secondary tank due to budget and space constraints :( i do weekly water changes to keep everything clean and good for my lovely tank inhabitants, usually about 1/4th of the water in the tank based on visual estimate alone

25% water change every week is a lot. If you do that much, get more live rock & coral to increase your biofiltration. Yes, coral & seaweed are the biofilter, not filter floss and activated carbon.

It’s your lobster and it’s your ecosystem. Go for the Gusto.

How about a picture!

 

[Introvertedmaniack]

25% water change every week is a lot. If you do that much, get more live rock & coral to increase your biofiltration. Yes, coral & seaweed are the biofilter, not filter floss and activated carbon.

It’s your lobster and it’s your ecosystem. Go for the Gusto.

How about a picture!

I've got rock media in my filter for biofiltration and I've got very little interest in corals. they seem to need a lot of equipment that i don't have! my tabk also looks pretty bad at the moment, but im getting more rock soon to make it much better! and a wavemaker, wave makers are always good!

 

[Kmst80]

If you're looking for macro algae check out ravingreefs.com.au
He's got all king of macro but is a bit pricey.
I ordered red sea grapes and from him, the sea grapes looked like dying but now is taking off after 2 month. Dragonbreath is my 3rd try, always seemed to get white rot on the tips and slowly wither away. I lost half on this lot but half is left, fingers crossed.
Just got green sea grapes from a lfs here and it melted away within a week.

Don't give up.

 

[Introvertedmaniack]

25% water change every week is a lot. If you do that much, get more live rock & coral to increase your biofiltration. Yes, coral & seaweed are the biofilter, not filter floss and activated carbon.

It’s your lobster and it’s your ecosystem. Go for the Gusto.

How about a picture!

realised l never properly attached my tank image! my bad! let me attach a picture now its pretty sad and barebones now but I plan to replace those fake hides and take out the sponge filter to replace it with some lovely rock islands connected by arches!

 

[Introvertedmaniack]

I've now gotten my lovely new rock, a new light, a spiffy new wavemaker, and a much bigger sample of Caulerpa racemosa (or Caulerpa peltata? unsure now )! hopefully it flourishes this time! heres a picture of my lovely tank! i hope the new rocks won't muck up anything, the tank was already established before so it shouldn't do much :3

 

[Subsea]

I've now gotten my lovely new rock, a new light, a spiffy new wavemaker, and a much bigger sample of Caulerpa racemosa (or Caulerpa peltata? unsure now )! hopefully it flourishes this time! heres a picture of my lovely tank! i hope the new rocks won't muck up anything, the tank was already established before so it shouldn't do much :3

Nice.

https://www.marineplantbook.com/marinebookpeltata.htm

 

[Introvertedmaniack]

Nice.

https://www.marineplantbook.com/marinebookpeltata.htm

thanks for the link! thats some pretty helpful information!