Will Halimeda outcompete my SPS?

[Partially Submerged]

Hi there,

 

I've always had some Halimeda macroalgae in my 3g pico tank. I like their looks and so far, I've just picked them when they got too big/too many. Never been a problem. But now I added two SPS corals to the tank, and I am wondering if the Halimeda might suck up too much of the calcium since they grow so fast and must use use a lot of calcium in the process.

 

I don't dose supplements, but I do weekly 80% water changes with a Reef Crystals salt mix. Should I remove most of the Halimeda from the tank?

[markalot]

You should test and know rather than guessing. Salifert alk and calcium test kits work well. Alk is generally what screws up tanks, not calcium.

[Partially Submerged]

Hm, I don't think I want to start testing my water. I was thinking that the Halimeda might hog all the good nutrients since it's such a small tank. All my older corals (all softies plus one torch) corals seem to do well, but everything has grown rather slowly. I guess I'm just worried that SPS might not be as forgiving (though it's a birdsnest and a Montipora digitata, so nothing terribly challenging, from what I've been told).

[Evanski9]

I had this problem in my last tank.. It was eating CA like crazy when I added it. Get ready to dose

[jservedio]

In my SPS tank at home I have a huge patch of halimedia on a flat rock between my islands and it really doesn't effect the Alk and Ca that much when compared to the acros in the tank - with around 100-120 "coins" of halimedia, I lose an extra 1-2ppm of alk per day in 20g - when you are dosing more than 25-30ppm per day, it isn't a big deal.

 

With a pico you should be doing 30-50%+ a week in WCs so your alk won't be a problem. My 2g pico has monti digi, a monti cap, and everything else is LPS and I have yet to test anything but salinity and the WCs have been plenty for the past year even with things growing like crazy.

 

As long as you keep up with your water changes, don't worry about it - it does much more good than harm.

[Skuba]

My tank grew halimeda out of rocks and the sandbed wildly. I dose 2 part, but I don't think the halimeda is making a big impact on alk or cal. See my tank thread for pics of a jungle behind my scape. Looks kind of cool bc it's like a small fuge intank where my corrise can't pick all the pods off.

[Partially Submerged]

Excellent. Thank you all for your replies!