Experimental Macroalgae Troubleshooting Thread

[Weetabix7]

Sounds great John, I look forward to continuing this and trying out different corallines too.

 

Check out some of your Macros in my Lil Pico:

 

 

[Markushka]

John i'm setting up my macro tank with CF, i'm still on the fence of whether to go with a 65w or the one thats on my current fuge. I'd like to try these macros out too, or what ever you'd send my way. I'll be putting up the tank this weekend or next with stuff scavenged from my hex. I'd be game when i'm ready.

[johnmaloney]

like to jump in head first huh?

[Markushka]

like to jump in head first huh?

 

 

lol, i've had macros in my tanks before, not many cause the foxface would eat em. but also this new tank is me just revamping my QT setup with stuff from my to be FW again hex.

[johnmaloney]

no need to rationalize it to me lol....I am just busting chops. I have been on the phone with the government all morning, so I wanted to have some fun today.

 

tank is looking good weetie!

[johnmaloney]

Ok...so I am going to rename the thread. "Experimental Macros Thread" or something. The species won't be rare necessarily, just different.

 

I was thinking it would be cool if coralline algae were treated/looked at as a bunch of different species rather than as a singular thing. Some species of coralline come in cool looking sheets, some are plating and some are fruiting. For our purposes I was thinking it would be easiest if we did small samples of certain kinds and get a feel for how they behave in captivity. Some of the finickier things may hold up well in my tank, but not in yours, or vice versa. Some may need water in shipping and not others etc.. and we should try to learn from it.

 

From what I can tell, the great variety of coralline prefers low light, and only a few species are comfortable with high lighting. That is why you see such a relatively small richness in coralline species in our tanks.

 

Out there I see coralline algae in almost every color of the rainbow and almost every shade imaginable. Orange, bright yellow, red, yellow with red, pink, green, blue, teal, etc... you really could have an amazing tank of the month style tank with only coralline. But without much info out there, and this being new to me too, and there being so many different variables between our systems, there is bound to be many failures. So I was thinking I could collect small samples I find on shells, (the rock is protected), make some cutting from the plating coralline, and collect the fruiting kind when I make it down south next time. Samples and pieces will be small so we can spread the resource, anyone participating will be asked to share both good and bad experiences with the care of the algae. There are some coralline sheets too that I can collect without harming the rocks, but you will have to be patient b/c this will be a side project for me as well.

 

Locals - we can do local pickup for this project only. No sales, the specimens will be free. You would still have to arrange an appointment, we can't have walk ins. We have industrial zoning in our warehouse because we ship and have limited parking so we are not allowed to have retail customers, however the no charge and you re-submit data back to us thing doesn't really make you a retail customer, we can have visitors, just no open retail sales to the public.

 

--Oh by the way weetie, i saw the note about the nudi. Check Elysia ornata. I have all sorts of nudis in my home tank, I thought I removed them from anything shipped, I apologize. They are harmless, I have red tipped sea goddess and a few others too, Small things, but the Elysia ornata's eat algae, so you would want to treat them as a CUC member, pretty much like a lettuce sea slug. No worries to everyone else, I do not ship out of the tank at my house except for special orders.

 

--as to the first round of species what do we have that is still kicking?

 

I have the nemastoma, a predea and a sebdenia alive still. (Plus the regular halymenias, and the titanophora encrustans)

 

weetie - you have a sciania and a stypodium right?

 

shyla - i think you have the haly e and the sciania, or was yours the sebdenia and the sciania? I know you had one of the two

 

got2envy - any luck at all? I am going to try USPS to you next time, maybe it would arrive earlier or in better condition. Will try the water too and we can see, but I might just test that in a bag here to reduce the variables..

 

sbcaes - jungle?

[Weetabix7]

I have the Stypodium, Sciania and my Nemastoma is actually still looking okay.

I'm definitely quite interested in the Coralline project.

[johnmaloney]

okay cool, seems like the nemastoma is holding up better than the rest. Seems like that is the one everyone still has I think

 

I think the good thing about a coralline project too, is Priority mail will suffice.

 

Here are the two I was thinking to start with:

Peyssonnelia simulans - I can find this pretty regularly. You often see it in tanks, it looks pretty nice if you ask me.

Peyssonnelia boergesenii - i see it, but i think it will prove to be difficult to find on shells.

 

Here are some other coralline genuses that should get you some google results if you want to look on your own in the mean time:

 

Amphiroa - Has thin branches usually, flexible, resembles a birds nest sometimes, and the old timers in the Keys that collect it usually call it Bird's Nest coralline

Halipton - This genus has a lot of fern like species, including a H. subulatum which is the coralline algae in that awesome picture of a red coralline plant you will come across one day in this hobby...if I can find the link I will get it, but it is as popular as the tesselated blenny on the oil rig picture....

Jania - another algae with thin loose calcified branches.

Lithophyllum- pretty diverse, it tends to be shorter, thicker forms that are what I would call "plating" in style

Negoniolithon - you bump into these at the LFS often enough in Florida. They are generally round, look like the pink galaxy algae, except they are calcified. I always did better with these in low light.

 

 

By the way, did any of you get a red algae in the first shipment that looked like a large pink galazy but was sort of flimsy and should have been a darkish red? It wasn't semi-transparent like the sebdenia or the sciania...easier to keep. I think shyla got it and it is the one in her pic in front of the sciania. Sbcaes got one too...Well anyway, I think I found the id on that one, Tricleocarpa cylindrica. I have some of that still too, that seems pretty easy to keep, but the joints seem flimsy out of water.

[Shyla8]

I only have the Sciania John, didn't get any of the others you mentioned in this thread. I just got the codium and mangroves in my last order. However you forgot the Red Titan and was going to send it Monday, so if you wanna add some thats fine with me

 

So far the Sciania is standing up and looking ok. Not as dark as weets looks but its not falling apart. I have it under 36w of 50/50.

 

Edit - The one you see in front of the Sciania is the Sciania too It was long so I set it that way. Thats the only one I got.

[SbCaes]

MOAR!!!! <-- to jungleness

[johnmaloney]

lol...well in that case I should find you something.

 

Oh okay, these all look so similar in a way, certainly in pics, that I feel like I am saying the "red translucent branching algae that is more translucent than...well you get the point. I will write it out next time when I send it.

[Markushka]

I'd be down for cool coraline too, think my lights are dull enough?

[johnmaloney]

agreed to sbcaes

 

and maybe to you markusha. i know the 50/50 oddysea at the top of a 72 are okay, but full on wasn't. That is how it is going to be unfortunately.

[Shyla8]

lol...well in that case I should find you something.

 

Oh okay, these all look so similar in a way, certainly in pics, that I feel like I am saying the "red translucent branching algae that is more translucent than...well you get the point. I will write it out next time when I send it.

 

Yeah yeah find me something I love to be surprised.

 

Also, those corallines are cool, I looked some of them up. Lithophyllum seems to be the one I have had in my tank for a while, always reminded me of the monti caps. I think I had spoken to you about it a while back.

[SbCaes]

note to self.... NEVER super glue macroalgaes. they burn just liek corals! O_O"

[Zepo.]

I have a old light for a 10g I could set it up and plumb it into my main system hmm. LMK what you have that would work under a 74 watt PC.

[got2envy]

Hey John! I think all mine took a poo

I am def down for a corraline project

I will see about setting up a 20g long under my 40 with lower light just for these macros...I have everything but the light...what do you recommend? T5?

[Deleted User 6]

john, i'll be in on the coralline when i get my new tank set up.

[got2envy]

I am thinking 55-65w PC's with 1x 50/50 actinic and 1x50/50 actinic and daylight....so more actinic lighting than daylight watcha think?

ot 2x 24w T-5's?

I have never had a low light tank altho the 125g sump has a clamp on light with a screw in bulb from Home Depot and the macro goes crazy...it's a really yellow light

 

edit- and when did I hit 5k posts

[Weetabix7]

Lol, it's funny, most ppl with Reef Tanks always want to get stronger lighting and here we are talking about how to set up lower light tanks.

I would really love to get a good circle of us going who will work on experimenting with this together and just see how much we can learn about care and shipping requirements for these Coralline and Macroalgaes.

I love learning about stuff like this!

[got2envy]

I know Weetie! I am excited

 

We are macro nerds...the few the proud...

 

wheres Lani ?

[animalmaster6]

This project sounds awesome.

[NinjaBum]

Well, I am on another forum but I've been working with John on some of these and I have some of them doing pretty good right now in my tank. If you need a hint on what he means by low light, on my 100g right now I am only running 2x54w 6500 k right now with a 54wblue plus to tone down how harsh the 6500k's are and I'm even considering moving it down to one 6500k depending on how this goes. I used to have a lot more light and have been doing controlled steps down and measuring their growth responses. I was running 6 bulbs with 3x 12000k's 2x 6500k's and the blue+ and still noticed it was too bright. I cant take the light too low as I am still running a softy/ macro hybrid build now but at this point with the 3x 54w bulbs everything still seems doing well. I'm hoping to get a response from the red's as they are the hitch in the macro lineup. They absolutely hate hgiher light and I'm trying to get to the point where they stop losing the red color due to light burn. I'll try to add my input where I can, although I bet a lot of you know a lot more than I do on the subject. Some of you have tanks that make me envious. Although with 100g to fill its been a long time trying to fill the space where it looks halfway decent.

 

 

 

[Shyla8]

Those are some super nice macros Ninja, love em!

[got2envy]

NinjaBum!

 

I am happy you made it over here

 

beautiful tank!