Refug stocking question: What type?!

[SifuMemphis]

Recently set up a new tank and was going to Algae barn to pick up some clean chaeto and saw they have a macro-algae pack:

Ultimate Macroalgae Pack

Ultimate Macroalgae Pack With a nod to TRITON method adherents, the Ultimate Macroalgae Pack relies on the combined efforts of several select seaweed species to decimate bad algae. 3 or 4 packs to choose from!

www.algaebarn.com

is it better to just run Chaeto, or would having 1oz. Sea Lettuce 1oz. Red Ogo 1oz. Chaetomorpha be a better start? I've always only used Chaeto, so having sea lettuce and red ogo would be new to me.

Thoughts?

 

[LiveWire]

It really depends on what your plans are. If you are just using the macro to absorb the excuess nutrients and then plan to toss it you really can use just about anything. If your display will house Tangs then Sea Lettuce and Red Ogo are great options for the system as you can feed them what you prune. Your tank parameters and lighting will also come into play with what macros will do better than others.

 

[Scotty Buttons]

When I started my fuge I put some cheato and some culupra in there. Eventually the cheato took off and over took the culupra ended up choking it out and now I only have cheato. Different macros will do different things. That's just my experience. Like mentioned above, allot depends on your needs and desire. If you are looking solely for nutrient export, I'd just go with cheato as it seems to have always grown the best for me and keeps my nuits in balance. Good luck

 

[Mr Fishface]

The only problem with putting multiple types of algae in a refugium is mostly related to size and/or nutrients available.
Size - most refugiums are small and when one type of algae grows it, they will cover another type and thus block light to it. Most refugiums end up with 1 dominant type of algae after a while unless they are very carefully monitored and pruned back regularly.
Nutrients - similar to above, most tanks don't have an absurd amount of nutrients available. Once the nutrients go really low, the most adaptable algae to low nutrients will survive and the others will die. Unless you do something to continue feeding lots of nutrients into the tank, at some point one will gain the advantage and from there the others will die back.

Does that mean you can't start with multiple types? Not at all! Just be aware that unless you have a plan in place to monitor them often, it's highly likely that one will win over the others with time. Not a bad thing; just something to keep in mind at least. If your only plan is to cultivate grown algae to reduce nutrients I would pick one of the faster growers out there and stick with it though. If you want to feed algae back to the tank then a diversity is nice as you can see which your fish like best and remove the others they don't eat later on.