Experimental Macroalgae Troubleshooting Thread

[Jacobnano]

Oh sorry, I thought that was the link to photosynthetic sponges off of washington state. Where did I put that link...hmm...

 

 

anyway another article that mentions some sponges are photosynthetic, and they are only talking about barrel sponges in general, but they just dont flat out say "such and such species is photosynthetic"

 

http://people.uncw.edu/pawlikj/xmuta.html

 

the search continues I guess....barrel sponges are huge anyway, but for curiosity purposes...

 

Wait is that sarcasm or are there actually ones that are photosynthetic haha??

 

Ahhh. Are there any small barrel sponges? Your tanks are pretty big right? You could keep some

[johnmaloney]

the bigger tanks i have arent good for viewing. i wouldn't take a large barrel sponge, maybe a small sample, but I was just reporting back what little I found in the search really. I don't have any plans to keep them really. Just typing out loud...

 

No I wasn't being sarcastic, I really did read about photosynthetic sponges being abundant off of WA state. You still do the cold water thing right?

[Jacobnano]

Of course man! The CW tank is still going

 

Gimme the info man!

[johnmaloney]

well that was my attempt at sarcasm. i am working on it still as you can see.

 

i will keep looking......you don't see sponges regularly though?

[Jacobnano]

Haha sorry man, the internet makes it tough unless you make it blindingly obvious haha

 

I see sponges all the time! Usually yellow and red, but other colors too. The sponges are the encrusting kinda, but still soft, not calcified at all.

[johnmaloney]

I wonder if cold water sponges are harder to keep because you have nutrient rich (in a good way) water compared to here...

 

anyway, tomorrow i go search for your gorg. there is a tank setup for it and everything right? Because here is the thing about a big gorg...big space...so... Give me dimensions as well. One of the guys I work with is coming along to take pictures I think, I have to remember to pick up a disposable camera tonight.

 

oh by the way, i was reading somewhere else, (sorry i am so bad with citations!), that brown sponges are more likely to be photosynthetic because the dinoflagellates etc... just like with coral. But we have colorful coral too, so I wont buy into that rule wholesale...

[Jacobnano]

I wonder if cold water sponges are harder to keep because you have nutrient rich (in a good way) water compared to here...

 

anyway, tomorrow i go search for your gorg. there is a tank setup for it and everything right? Because here is the thing about a big gorg...big space...so... Give me dimensions as well. One of the guys I work with is coming along to take pictures I think, I have to remember to pick up a disposable camera tonight.

 

Or could they be easier in that fact that they have access to more nutrients? Then again, they might be more demanding. I need that photosynthetic sponge list, with images if you have a link.

 

Yay! What species do you think you will be finding? Alright as for size....ummmmm up to nine inches tall or so and probably no more than 6 inches wide. I can always frag it a little if it is too big It will be going in my 24g, where there should be enough flow and light for it just about everywhere, so make sure you get a photosynthetic one

 

Yes!!!! I want pics haha! About time John, and yes, bring a camera!

 

oh by the way, i was reading somewhere else, (sorry i am so bad with citations!), that brown sponges are more likely to be photosynthetic because the dinoflagellates etc... just like with coral. But we have colorful coral too, so I wont buy into that rule wholesale...

 

That does make sense! So you would think green and brown are prob photosynthetic? Hmmmm. I do see red and yellow, oh and orange a lot too. Sponges seem to do well in the high nutrient waters, I will get some more pics of tidepools this summer to show ya. Yea maybe I will wait till I know the exact species before I being some back

[johnmaloney]

i got stuff maria and will be in sort of your neck of the woods tomorrow. let me know, maybe i meet up and hand you things.

 

will try to take some pics

 

i would think they more they are used to, the more you need to give them.

 

i wonder if sponges like diatoms...still too big?

[Jacobnano]

i got stuff maria and will be in sort of your neck of the woods tomorrow. let me know, maybe i meet up and hand you things.

 

will try to take some pics

 

i would think they more they are used to, the more you need to give them.

 

i wonder if sponges like diatoms...still too big?

 

Good, this thread needs more pics

 

That is true, which is annoying because I am trying to keep nutrients down in my coldwater tank haha!

 

Do you mean if they filter them out, or if they use them in a symbiotic relationship? I am thinking they would be too big/sharp for them to filter out. And I dunno about symbiosis.

[johnmaloney]

well nutrients feed micro algae feeds zooplankton and the bacteria and all that that live off of them their waste etc.. that feeds the sponges. So I was thinking rich waters, have sponges that eat more...but their metabolism might be slower too? I don't know. Spiking your nitrates won't do you any good though with sponges, you can control those and still have a good amount of available food.

 

Speaking of pics, I would probably take more if I can figure out how to get my camera to take normal size pics so I dont have to scale them down in GIMP. If there is a quick answer, or a button to push or somewhere to search for that, I would appreciate the help..I am bad with small electronics, I have a tide watch and GPS that I can't set.

 

oh I forgot to mention, I think I was right on the kallymenia westii, (spelling?), I went back and collected what was left. It was a huge sheet, now it is 2x2 or so. Might have been waves, but it was calm...rudderfish seem to have an eye to get the bright colored ones first...

[Jacobnano]

well nutrients feed micro algae feeds zooplankton and the bacteria and all that that live off of them their waste etc.. that feeds the sponges. So I was thinking rich waters, have sponges that eat more...but their metabolism might be slower too? I don't know. Spiking your nitrates won't do you any good though with sponges, you can control those and still have a good amount of available food.

 

Speaking of pics, I would probably take more if I can figure out how to get my camera to take normal size pics so I dont have to scale them down in GIMP. If there is a quick answer, or a button to push or somewhere to search for that, I would appreciate the help..I am bad with small electronics, I have a tide watch and GPS that I can't set.

 

oh I forgot to mention, I think I was right on the kallymenia westii, (spelling?), I went back and collected what was left. It was a huge sheet, now it is 2x2 or so. Might have been waves, but it was calm...rudderfish seem to have an eye to get the bright colored ones first...

 

The problem is zooplankton, how much is there in an aquarium, and how much would these creatures need? That is what I am worried about. The main waste in my tank is going to be coming from anemones and snails/worms. The bacteria and copepods are few and far between (alright I can't see the bacteria, but I know it isn't amazingly plentiful) and the copepods are super rare, in an environment that doesn't even feed on them! Well I don't want to spike nitrates, but wouldn't they be spiked if I tried to feed the sponges? Unless of course they are photosynthetic.

 

Usually the bigger the pics the better. That means there are more megapixels. Just upload the pics to photobucket (or some similar site) and link them here. Nano-Reef resizes them for the page, that way you don't lose any quality with the editing. Need help? I prob can haha.

 

Looked that up, so big leafy macro kind of thing? It looked a lot like kelp haha. Ahh the fish do love macro algae

[johnmaloney]

i think turkey baster blasting your rocks would probably be the right way to go

 

i have dsl here at the warehouse, uploads take forever even scaled down.

[Jacobnano]

i think turkey baster blasting your rocks would probably be the right way to go

 

i have dsl here at the warehouse, uploads take forever even scaled down.

 

Alrighty.

 

Yea same here, well not in a warehouse. I just start it then go do something else.

[Weetabix7]

Lani, a lot of the Macros John has been sending out like extremely low light, esp. the Halymenia Elongata.

(Globular, long stalks)

I would receommend putting them (the H. Elongata especially) in cave or under a rock ledge if he sends you some.

He says they like high flow.

My Nemastoma did fine under unshaded PC light, but John says if it gets tears then you have to protect it from Pods who like to attack and eat it.

I was able to protect mine in a specimen cup in the tank and it seems to be doing just fine now.

You could try a soapdish.

There's a pic of what I did with mine a couple of pages back somewhere.

Please be sure to post pics and your experiences, we're all trying to learn about these.

[Lalani]

[johnmaloney]

kind of curious how they did with the water.. tell your postal crew to hurry up, I am curious.

[Lalani]

Lol, the mail lady should pass by in the next hour or so. I'll let you know as soon as it gets here.

[johnmaloney]

I can wait I suppose... at the very least it will give me a good excuse to get back to what I am supposed to be doing.

[Weetabix7]

kind of curious how they did with the water.. tell your postal crew to hurry up, I am curious.

 

Me too!

 

Hey John, you think it's safe for me to take the Nemastoma out of Protective Custody and put it in the main tank now?

It's been doing well, but I don't want Pods to go after it.

Do they only go after fresh tears?

[Markushka]

hey john, I'd be down for anything experimental you send my way , i'm starting that new tank (with old water and rock) and i think i'd be good for trials.

[johnmaloney]

oh yeah i would move it. I guess with the ones I killed in the past with pods I did something else, or they would have went downhill anyway...? That is the problem with only a few experiences. I now have some in the mud tank, it crawls with pods and they are fine.

 

did i post about the Kallymenia westii? google images has something here:

http://www.fibv.org.ve/jardin/images/stori...estii_500px.jpg

 

i also took a pic, where is it....

 

hard to photograph for me in the water, so i did it on paper too. Still hard..lol...It basically looks like ulva but it is red, and it has a bunch of swiss cheese like holes all over it.

 

good thing is this will be an easy to cut and trade algae. I am not sure if that will be the case with the others

[got2envy]

Nice! my ulva dissapeared for some reason...I think the hermits, pods and snails had snack time

I had a lot of it too.

[johnmaloney]

it happens...turbos, some of the larger hermits...by the way, and it is a bit of a shameless plug but whatever :

 

ceriths

nassarius

nerites

 

good cuc members that will rarely if ever eat your desirable macros^^ Has to do with their cutting power.

[Weetabix7]

oh yeah i would move it. I guess with the ones I killed in the past with pods I did something else, or they would have went downhill anyway...? That is the problem with only a few experiences. I now have some in the mud tank, it crawls with pods and they are fine.

 

did i post about the Kallymenia westii? google images has something here:

http://www.fibv.org.ve/jardin/images/stori...estii_500px.jpg

 

i also took a pic, where is it....

 

hard to photograph for me in the water, so i did it on paper too. Still hard..lol...It basically looks like ulva but it is red, and it has a bunch of swiss cheese like holes all over it.

 

good thing is this will be an easy to cut and trade algae. I am not sure if that will be the case with the others

 

I want some Kallymenia.

Mebbe we could set up another shipment and I could pay you for both at the same time, wink wink.

 

Nice! my ulva dissapeared for some reason...I think the hermits, pods and snails had snack time

I had a lot of it too.

 

Same thing happened to me, found a little pile of green colored poo next to the Ulva.

I've tried 3 times and can't keep Ulva in my tanks, it always gets eaten.

 

Hey John, you think the Stypodium would do good planted in mud?

Some plants you can't really "plant" in medium, but it looked like it might be possible with the Stypodium.

Since my Pico Display is barebottom, I thought about cutting up an ice-cube tray and using the little sections as "planters" with mud in them.

Might need a slightly larger container for the Stypodium.

I could attach crushed coral or small rubble to the outside of the containers so they'd look more natural.

[johnmaloney]

i think you can get away with it, but the mud wouldn't help/hurt the stypodium.

 

the kallymenia i think will work with priority mail, i will share some but I have to get it to grow first, and I kind of beat it up to spread it out on paper to take a pic...not a great pic either... ...but proof I found some! Most people take pictures with big fish they caught, I have small pieces of seaweed.