Macroalgae Ecosystem?

[Firefish15]

@Broseff If you’re still looking for some micro-grazers, I’d try tracking down some stomatellas or limpets. I got both of them as hitchhikers in my tank, and they’re doing great. 
The stomatellas have a breeding population, and only get about 1/2” long. Same with the limpets, but the biggest I’ve seen is 1/4” long. 

[Broseff]

So, I'm trying to add some more color and texture to the tank. 

 

I saw that someone is selling purple/blue clam shells. Would that be okay to add to the subtrate? 

 

The same person is also selling barnacle clusters and abalone shells. I was thinking of adding these in to just to add textures and a little color.

 

Could any of these things cause problems in the long run? I imagine the shells may eventually lose their color, but the barnacle clusters might be a cool text to add in the tank. Would anything cause problems with nutrients, or act as a magnet for nuissance algae (I know coral skeleton usually ends up covered in algae)?

[Broseff]

12 minutes ago, Firefish15 said:

@Broseff If you’re still looking for some micro-grazers, I’d try tracking down some stomatellas or limpets. I got both of them as hitchhikers in my tank, and they’re doing great. 
The stomatellas have a breeding population, and only get about 1/2” long. Same with the limpets, but the biggest I’ve seen is 1/4” long. 

I'll have to check it out. I'll probably try to get some the next time I buy macros. 

[Subsea]

1 hour ago, Broseff said:

So, I'm trying to add some more color and texture to the tank. 

 

I saw that someone is selling purple/blue clam shells. Would that be okay to add to the subtrate? 

 

The same person is also selling barnacle clusters and abalone shells. I was thinking of adding these in to just to add textures and a little color.

 

Could any of these things cause problems in the long run? I imagine the shells may eventually lose their color, but the barnacle clusters might be a cool text to add in the tank. Would anything cause problems with nutrients, or act as a magnet for nuissance algae (I know coral skeleton usually ends up covered in algae)?

Are you still using 3G bowl?

 

I would  think live barnacles would become a high maintenance filter feeder to support.  Consider a feather duster as easier to maintain.  

[Broseff]

42 minutes ago, Subsea said:

Are you still using 3G bowl?

 

I would  think live barnacles would become a high maintenance filter feeder to support.  Consider a feather duster as easier to maintain.  

Oh, by barncle, I meant the shell, not live. 

 

[Broseff]

The tank has been rescaped. 

 

I got some: Halimeda (2 varieties, the larger one is in the back) and some Pinecone Algae (or whatever you call it). I also got a variety of smaller snails (virgin nerite, cerith, dwarf ceriths? they're all pretty tiny, except for the cerith) and a hermit. 

 

Anyways, I rescaped the tank so that the hermit has some open space to move around in. I made the sand bed a little deeper (especially in the back), and if everything does well I'll probably need to deepen it some more (I would slope it so it gets deeper towards the back where it's less noticable and maybe move the macros accordingly). I took a lot of the Ogo out, most of it wasn't in good conidition when I bought it so I kept some of it and put the rest somewhere else to grow out. I also added some Codium in (I've had it for a couple weeks and just wanted to make sure it wasn't going to die). Not gonna lie, it's starting to look kinda christmassy with all the red and green. It's also still hazy because I had to add some more sand. 

 

I think most of my new green macros have higher light needs (and might benefit more from a different color spectrum, hopefully one of the LEDs I have now will work) so we'll see how that plays out. 

 

[Subsea]

I started a 30G macro invert tank one month ago.  I mixed Bortacladia with two fast growing Caulerpa.   One thing I have noted about Bortacladia, if given too much light, exudates of DOC/POC accumulate on branches requiring a slight shaking.  Overall,for display purposes I like color rendition  between 6500-10K.

 

First pictures are under 12K because  tank  is cycling with some ugly dusting..   Once tank tank is finished cycling, I will use

10K color rendition.

[Broseff]

5 hours ago, Subsea said:

I started a 30G macro invert tank one month ago.  I mixed Bortacladia with two fast growing Caulerpa.   One thing I have noted about Bortacladia, if given too much light, exudates of DOC/POC accumulate on branches requiring a slight shaking.  Overall,for display purposes I like color rendition  between 6500-10K.

 

First pictures are under 12K because  tank  is cycling with some ugly dusting..   Once tank tank is finished cycling, I will use

10K color rendition.

 

I've been using cheap no-name LEDs, so I have no idea what the colors are in terms of Ks. Is there a way to figure that out? 

 

Like I have one that has multiple settings (currectly using with my FW and some plants I'm growing inside). But the two that I have open to use, one consists of white and blue LEDs (has some settings). The other has mostly white and blues, with a couple of green and red (no settings). 

[Subsea]

 

I can only say the number for color is not the criteria that is important.  What is important is how do you want to view your display.    Just for comparison purposes: 5K is a Caribbean reef at noon, 6500 at 3pm  and 10K at 6pm

[Broseff]

19 hours ago, Subsea said:

 

I can only say the number for color is not the criteria that is important.  What is important is how do you want to view your display.    Just for comparison purposes: 5K is a Caribbean reef at noon, 6500 at 3pm  and 10K a5 6pm

Isn't the color you use important for growing Macos? Don't some do better in different lighting?

[Subsea]

4 hours ago, Broseff said:

Isn't the color you use important for growing Macos? Don't some do better in different lighting?

Bortacladia is collected between 40’-120’.    Not to much red, yellow or Orange at that depth, yet it can be grown under those spectrum.  Some macro like some  coral can make large environmental adjustments. 
 

Is this still a 3G display tank?  A 1:1 combination of B:W should display just fine.   Use only slow growing pulse macro with minimum light.

https://www.reefcleaners.org/stocking-the-sumprefugium

Our Philosophy:

You want both consistent nutrient uptake and pulse nutrient uptake macros and saltwater plants in your tank.

Here is what I mean by those terms: (They use similar terminology in phycology by the idea is exactly the same)

Consistent Macros- Macros that need nutrient at a high levels, all the time to thrive. They filter out nutrients quickly and are effective at dealing with established nutrient problems.

Pulse Macros - Can handle periods of low nutrient levels well, and are long lived plants

Middle of the Road Macros - as you may have guessed, these macros and plants are somewhere in the middle. They grow quickly in high nutrient tanks, but can endure longer periods of low nutrition as well.

 

[Broseff]

Update:

 

Fauna are still alive (as far as I know). No real update with them since it's only been a week, everything is as 

 

BUT, the Macros are growing!

• Haliptilon (red feather) - I've had it for a month. It's been a mix of growing and dying. It's growing new roots, but some of the "leaves" are turning to mush.
• Xmas Tree - Only had it a week and it's visibly growing.
• Halimeda - Only had it a week the smaller ones are visibly growing. Parts are turning a little white, why is this?
• Codium - Not pictured. I've had it for a month, it's definetly growing. 
• Gracilaria - Not sure if it's growing, all the unhealthy parts have seemed to die off though.

The tank has been set up for maybe 3-4 weeks now, and the rocks are still producing bubbles. Specifically at the top where some microalgae has been growing. Does anyone know why this is?

[Lypto]

With the algae, that's oxygen gas. It's from them photosynthesizing, usually means they're  happy. From the rocks it could be a dino/microalgae cycle from your tank settling, they're also making oxygen gas. Nothing to worry about.

[Broseff]

8 hours ago, Lypto said:

With the algae, that's oxygen gas. It's from them photosynthesizing, usually means their happy. From the rocks it could be a dino/microalgae cycle from your tank settling, they're also making oxygen gas. Nothing to worry about.

That's good to hear, the gracilaria let out a bunch of bubbles when I touched it. 

[Broseff]

Update: Macros are still growing. Some have a little die off, maybe they're adjusting? Or they're slowly dying.

 

Pods are still alive, but I'm not seeing them as much. Just the bigger ones when I turn the lights on, not many of the babies. 

 

Other algae has started to grow. Originally it was on the parts of the rocks exposed to light, but now there's some on the glass. I imagine it's from the dosing, maybe too much of somethings and not enough of others. Or too much of everything. I'll have to set a specific regiment.

[East1]

What are you dosing at the moment? 

[Broseff]

Dosing: ChaetoGro, Nitrogen (NeoNitro), Phosphorus (NeoPhos), Liquid Calcium, Essential Elements, and Iron/Magnesium. 

 

I've been dosing haphazardly (I know I shouldn't). I wanted to make sure the macros had enough nutrients to grow, which they are, so I have to start balancing what I dose now that I know they'll grow. 

[Subsea]

On 3/11/2021 at 2:53 PM, Broseff said:

Dosing: ChaetoGro, Nitrogen (NeoNitro), Phosphorus (NeoPhos), Liquid Calcium, Essential Elements, and Iron/Magnesium. 

 

I've been dosing haphazardly (I know I shouldn't). I wanted to make sure the macros had enough nutrients to grow, which they are, so I have to start balancing what I dose now that I know they'll grow. 

Once I started using chaetogro everything balanced out.  I am convinced that the corals benefit from these same trace minerals.

[Broseff]

Update:

• The Xmas tree macro is growing (orange circle) - seems long and stringy. Does it normally grow like this? 
• The Xmas tree macro sprouted up a little baby (red circle).
• The Halimeda is mostly growing well. It's a little thin. One branch got mushy and some of it is a little white. (yellow circle) But I moved it a little and it's rooting well. 
• I added in some branching Coralline algae (blue circle). It's got some white spots, is that okay? I don't know how it's supposed to look. 
• FYI the clam cluster is fake. They're real clam shells, just dead/cleaned out, and glued to a rock).

 

 

Also: I have some Haliptilon sp? (red feather macro). I'm not sure how it's doing.

• Part of it are turning green, mushy, transparent (red circle).
• But some of those parts are growing and turning red (green circle). 

 

As mentioned in my last update I have some algae growing on the glass. I've had the brown stuff before, but can't remember what it is. What is it? and what's the best way to keep if from coming back?

 

I also have some red/pink algae growing on the rocks. It shouldn't being coralline, all the rocks I bought were dry rocks and it started growing before I added the branching coralline. Any guess at what it is?

 

The algae, both the macros and what's on the rocks are still producing bubbles whenever the lights are on. 

 

I've noticed my pod population went to they're everywhere to I have no idea where they are. Any reason for the sudden disappearance?

 

Snails are all fine, the hermit crab hides alot under the gracilaria, I haven't seen the asterina starfish in a few days, and I got a brittle starfish as a hitch hiker (hopefully it's a micro, and not a baby). 

[East1]

That algae stuff in the last pic looks a bit like it may be bacterial, your tank might be nitrogen limited.

 

I also notice those products don't contain Iodine, I'd consider dosing some - I know it helps a lot with algaes 

[Broseff]

53 minutes ago, East1 said:

That algae stuff in the last pic looks a bit like it may be bacterial, your tank might be nitrogen limited.

 

I also notice those products don't contain Iodine, I'd consider dosing some - I know it helps a lot with algaes 

Like cyanobacteria? How do I deal with it?

[Broseff]

Couldn't get a very good shot, but anyone know what this is? Cyan?

[East1]

20 hours ago, Broseff said:

Like cyanobacteria? How do I deal with it?

Probably increase your dose of Nitrogen relative to phos (I'd stop Phos till you can see diatoms or something on the glass) 

 

Also Iodine, in an average reef it depeletes fast, but with all your macroalgaes it's probably the limiting element 

[Broseff]

I had a hitchhiker on the branching coralline I bought. I finally found where it went. Not sure if it's a baby or a micro. 

[Frozen_Reef]

4 hours ago, Broseff said:

I had a hitchhiker on the branching coralline I bought. I finally found where it went. Not sure if it's a baby or a micro. 

I had a similar one on some macro I got from Florida.