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Is dragons breath a good starter Macro?


aviator300

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I have no Macros in my tank yet (5 mo old 7.5 gal) and have no experience with them but i really like the pics i've seen of Dragons Breath. Would this be an OK beginners Macro or could you recommend something better with red or orange coloring?

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Polarcollision

It's an easy macro to keep. The tips turn flame red under high light.

 

Mr Scope, my clowns do the same to a gorgonian! Too funny. Housekeeping I think.

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Mr. Microscope

It's an easy macro to keep. The tips turn flame red under high light.

 

Mr Scope, my clowns do the same to a gorgonian! Too funny. Housekeeping I think.

LOL! Yeah, I'm not sure what their deal was. When I had it in my DT, it was close to their anemones. So, who knows.

 

Agreed on the first point as well. The tips actually fluoresce under blue LED's. It's really stunning.

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It's easy, have it in my tank w/ Gertie w/ just a cheapo marineland led strip w/ 4 blue lights and it grows a pretty maroon.

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Is dragons tongue the same thing as dragons breath? I'm looking for an attractive macroalgae for my display tank that turbos won't eat. Any suggestions?

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  • 2 weeks later...
loyalhero90

Yes it is easy to keep but mine has to be trimmed often for it grows pretty quickly. Not as quickly as caleurpa though so it is not invasive.

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It's very easy to keep but the problem I've found is that I can't keep it tied down (this won't be a prob if you juts want it in a fuge). I've tried tying it to rocks - it just slips through the string; I've tried to set rocks on top of it - it's sliminess just causes it to loosen fairly quickly and slide out from under anything holding it down... I wish I could find something to keep it tethered and then it would be a great addition to the Display, as it's pretty, interesting, and grows well. Ultimately mine always ends up wrapped around my MP10. I had the idea that I'd just leave it there and it could grow around it and hide what's left of the powerhead but unfortuantely water changes make it impossible to keep it staying there as soon as the powerhead is shut off for maintenance. If you find a good way to secure it, let me know. :)

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jamescstein

I've got mine loosely rubber banded to a small rock. Seems to be working quite well, it hasn't come loose in a month. I'm hoping that eventually it will grab ahold.

 

I found a point where 2 leaves branched off each other and put the rubber band ther e in the V.

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  • 2 weeks later...
reefdiver88

The coloration on it is beautiful, but my fish think its candy. I can only keep it in the fuge, and throw some in to the DT on special occasions.

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I have some in my Nuvo8 and I love it. Grows well under the stock light but I just upgraded to a Kessil A160we yesterday so we'll see. iPhone pics dont do the color justice. Nothing tries to eat it that I am aware of..

 

EC14032A-ABFC-4613-94ED-029E05B8283B.jpg

9DE945FE-FEFD-41FB-97A5-7FA15D0A4C8F.jpg

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If you can get someone to cut frag plugs in half just put the macro between and use rubberband to hold together. I have dragons breath in my BC 14 with stock lighting and its growing great. Looks awesome and will soon be fragged for trading to get cool stuff.

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phobos2deimos

Is dragons tongue the same thing as dragons breath? I'm looking for an attractive macroalgae for my display tank that turbos won't eat. Any suggestions?

No, although they get confused a lot. Dragon's Tongue is more 'tonguelike' - longer, thicker. No orange tips, although the entire thing will develop some orange iridescence under the right ligthing. Dragon's Breath is bushier, more delicate, finer, and will develop distinct orange tips under high blue lighting.

 

Tongue:

DSC_0001.JPG

 

Breath (just added to tank, orange tips aren't present):

DSC_0009.JPG

If you can get someone to cut frag plugs in half just put the macro between and use rubberband to hold together. I have dragons breath in my BC 14 with stock lighting and its growing great. Looks awesome and will soon be fragged for trading to get cool stuff.

Great idea, I'll try this for the trickier stuff.

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  • 4 weeks later...
JoeDigiorgio

I've got mine loosely rubber banded to a small rock. Seems to be working quite well, it hasn't come loose in a month. I'm hoping that eventually it will grab ahold.

 

I found a point where 2 leaves branched off each other and put the rubber band ther e in the V.

 

Dragons breath doesn't grab hold. It grows free floating naturally and will never generate any sort of holdfast. I've used loose zip ties in the past with mixed success. No matter what, the bottom portion will become shaded by the top growth and melt, releasing the top portion to float away from the zip tie. This takes a couple months but it still becomes sort of a pain.

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Cencalfishguy56

Dragons breath doesn't grab hold. It grows free floating naturally and will never generate any sort of holdfast. I've used loose zip ties in the past with mixed success. No matter what, the bottom portion will become shaded by the top growth and melt, releasing the top portion to float away from the zip tie. This takes a couple months but it still becomes sort of a pain.

Yea I just started noticing this, the top grows while the bottom portion melted away and it let loose off the rock now I just wedged it with rocks

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JoeDigiorgio

Yea I just started noticing this, the top grows while the bottom portion melted away and it let loose off the rock now I just wedged it with rocks

I've had dragons breath in a few different macro tanks and every time I ended up letting it just pick its own spot, only moving it if it settled somewhere dark.

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Gracilaria hayi is much easier to work with because it has structure and is safe in most display tanks and loves high light. Nothing eats it that I have found. My tangs and foxface obliterate dragon's breath.

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when it comes to dragon breath and dragon tongue I've had great success using mono fishing line ,tying it to small pieces of live rock or rubble.

 

I've had both in my main display under a Maxspect razor and the dragons breath grows like weeds ,also has the orange tone in the middle of the leafs.

 

I would say dragons breath is easier to keep.

post-78004-0-85460800-1431707715_thumb.png
That picture was a month ago and it's tripled in size.

 

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