Tigahboy's Macroalgae Tank(s)

[Tigahboy]

Some random shots of new additions to my beach lagoon.

Red palm. Traded with another reefer awhile back but 90% of it died off and now, re-born.

Spongebob?

Caulerpa-munching sea slug (Elysia subornata) that hitchhiked into my tank. I think I'll keep him around.

Grape caulerpa that always seems to go sexual on me eventually no matter what.

Blue hypnea for good measure. This has just completely taken over my UNS 45A tank which was previously red (Gracilaria hayi) dominant.

 

[WheatToast]

Spongebob?

Looks more like his parents:
Home_Sweet_Pineapple_050.png

Also, have you considered uploading pictures of your individual macroalgae specimens to Wikimedia Commons (basically Wikipedia's source for images)? Many of the species you own don't have pictures on that website.

 

[monicalooze]

Your tanks are insane. I am just in the stage of planning my next build (see my thread), and I'm extremely inspired by Amano FW tanks and Japanese Ikebana flower arranging. I want to add macros, but I also want to grow gorgonians, zoas, palys, sinularia, mushrooms, and maybe a candy cane. My issue right now is lighting....I love the sleek style of the UNS lights and the spectrum, but I have no idea if they can grow the above corals. Thoughts? Also....any thoughts on my build plan would be greatly appreciated.

Your tanks are incredibly inspiring

 

[Tigahboy]

Looks more like his parents:
Home_Sweet_Pineapple_050.png

Also, have you considered uploading pictures of your individual macroalgae specimens to Wikimedia Commons (basically Wikipedia's source for images)? Many of the species you own don't have pictures on that website.

Totally Spongebob's parents. I'll check out that site!

Your tanks are insane. I am just in the stage of planning my next build (see my thread), and I'm extremely inspired by Amano FW tanks and Japanese Ikebana flower arranging. I want to add macros, but I also want to grow gorgonians, zoas, palys, sinularia, mushrooms, and maybe a candy cane. My issue right now is lighting....I love the sleek style of the UNS lights and the spectrum, but I have no idea if they can grow the above corals. Thoughts? Also....any thoughts on my build plan would be greatly appreciated.

Your tanks are incredibly inspiring

Thank you! I use a freshwater planted tank lights for primarily my macroalgae since they benefit from full spectrum, but I think corals do benefit from more blue spectrum. I think you could get away with full spectrum lighting for those corals specifically, but I would lean towards reef lights that you can adjust so you can add in some periods with more full spectrum but still have periods with more blue. That way both coral and macroalgae will be happy.

 

[Stephers]

I can't believe how beautiful your tanks are. I started a macro display tank a couple of months ago and these are really inspiring. I was going to ask some questions, but then I read your reef of the month and it answered them all. Beautiful!

 

[Tigahboy]

I can't believe how beautiful your tanks are. I started a macro display tank a couple of months ago and these are really inspiring. I was going to ask some questions, but then I read your reef of the month and it answered them all. Beautiful!

Thank you! Looking forward to checking out your macro display.

 

[Tigahboy]

Some new additions for the beach lagoon.

Barnacles! I don't know much about they are supposedly from the Caribbean, relatively hardy, and stay small. We shall see. They are SUPER cool and fit right in this tank. They do move quite a bit though so they are no longer in this location. I posted up a really cool video of them on my Instagram (@tigahboy.h2o), so check it out!

Caulerpa cupressoides. In the past these have always gone sexual on me, so we shall see how they do in this tank.

 

[Tigahboy]

Same random macro shots from my UNS 45A tank.

 

[WheatToast]

Barnacles! I don't know much about they are supposedly from the Caribbean, relatively hardy, and stay small. We shall see. They are SUPER cool and fit right in this tank. They do move quite a bit though so they are no longer in this location. I posted up a really cool video of them on my Instagram (@tigahboy.h2o), so check it out!

Stunning specimens! Make sure they get fed enough!

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Looking great @Tigahboy!!

 

[Tigahboy]

Stunning specimens! Make sure they get fed enough!

Thanks! Definitely upping my phyto for the barnacles.

Looking great @Tigahboy!!

Thank you!!

 

[Alaeriel]

That blue hypnea is just stunning! We're hoping to grab a chunk for our seahorse macro tank eventually

 

[Tigahboy]

That blue hypnea is just stunning! We're hoping to grab a chunk for our seahorse macro tank eventually

I've found higher light intensity brings out the blues (if you notice it becoming darker/almost black). They seem more sensitive to lack of nutrients as well and will disintegrate if not enough nutrients.

 

[KenO]

I didn't read through the 17 pages of the thread, but awesome tanks. I use to have lots of planted FW tanks. Where do you order/get your macro algae from? I have a 40 breeder that is connected to my main setup. It has miracle mud on the bottom and I've been wanting to make it a planted SW setup.

 

[Phycodurus]

Grape caulerpa that always seems to go sexual on me eventually no matter what.

tigahboy, have you tried constant trimming to deter the caulerpa from going sexual? weekly? almost daily?

beautiful tanks. thanks so much for sharing.

 

[LgTas]

Have skimmed through this thread (can't wait to go through it properly when I have time) and follow you on Insta. Unbelievable tanks.

I tried to emulate you and setup a 25 gal peninsula for Macro Algae. Only issue I have is I can't ship in warmer water species to Tasmania due to biosecurity laws. I've tried our local species of Caulerpa, Ulva, and a few others but they just seem to get over run with GHA which totally outcompetes them. Run the tank at 22.5 degrees C. Ulva seems to survive if not smothered. There is an unknown brown algae the resembles kelp that I seem to get some new growth from but it's a struggle to clean the GHA off it.

Guess I'll have to keep experimenting but any tips would be appreciated.

 

[Tigahboy]

tigahboy, have you tried constant trimming to deter the caulerpa from going sexual? weekly? almost daily?

beautiful tanks. thanks so much for sharing.

I used to be better about trimming very frequently (every few days), but sometimes I do slack. -_- I think it makes sense though to trim the grape more to help minimize chances of it going sexual.

Have skimmed through this thread (can't wait to go through it properly when I have time) and follow you on Insta. Unbelievable tanks.

I tried to emulate you and setup a 25 gal peninsula for Macro Algae. Only issue I have is I can't ship in warmer water species to Tasmania due to biosecurity laws. I've tried our local species of Caulerpa, Ulva, and a few others but they just seem to get over run with GHA which totally outcompetes them. Run the tank at 22.5 degrees C. Ulva seems to survive if not smothered. There is an unknown brown algae the resembles kelp that I seem to get some new growth from but it's a struggle to clean the GHA off it.

Guess I'll have to keep experimenting but any tips would be appreciated.

Thanks for following along! Have you tried snails or even freshwater mollies for the GHA? Snails/mollies can usually handle the finer, shorter GHA (thicker stuff is hard though). It's not easy and I've had issues in the past as well. aggressive manual removal is necessary as well.

I didn't read through the 17 pages of the thread, but awesome tanks. I use to have lots of planted FW tanks. Where do you order/get your macro algae from? I have a 40 breeder that is connected to my main setup. It has miracle mud on the bottom and I've been wanting to make it a planted SW setup.

You can try reefcleaners, gulf coast ecosystems, KPA, alyssa's seahorses, or ebay.

 

[Tigahboy]

Just a couple recent FTSs.

 

[SaltyDuggz]

Some new additions for the beach lagoon.

Barnacles! I don't know much about they are supposedly from the Caribbean, relatively hardy, and stay small. We shall see. They are SUPER cool and fit right in this tank. They do move quite a bit though so they are no longer in this location. I posted up a really cool video of them on my Instagram (@tigahboy.h2o), so check it out!

Caulerpa cupressoides. In the past these have always gone sexual on me, so we shall see how they do in this tank.

Amazing tanks! What kind of barnacles are those? I've never seen white ones!

 

[-XENOMORPH-]

Dam fine work sir!