macro algae

[leveldrummer]

im working on my sump right now, just wondering what kinda light the macro algae needs underneath, and does it need 24/7 light, or a day/night cycle? havent decided what algae im going with, maybe marty will send me some chaeto...??? hint hint.

[cheseboy]

I would do 24/7 if I were you. Especially during the first week you get it. Personally I like spaghetti algae. I'm not sure if cheato is spaghetti or not so I choose spaghetti.

[Reefneck]

You do not need 24/7 lighting! In fact, The preferred method is a reverse of your daylights. When daylights are on, Fuge light is off. When daylights go off, Fuge light comes on.

Preferred this way because it helps to stabilize PH which generally tends to fall when lights are out.

Also, Avoid Caulerpa. It can go sexual and take over everything including your main tank. Stick with Cheato.

[leveldrummer]

those are the only two types of macro ive heard about so far, cheato, and caulerpa, are their others, and other pros and cons of them all?

[TheOldSalt]

There are plenty of other macroalgaes, but most of the others are useless, being too small, too slow-growing, or the wrong color.

If you use and RDP ( reverse daylight photosynthesis ) day/night cycle, then you will have a tank full of algal exudates. 24/7 lighting prevents that, and keeps the algae working all the time. It retards sexual reproduction in caulerpa, too, which would spawn like crazy in a day/night cycle as well as release toxins. Good aeration in the tank prevents any imbalances in pH by degassing the excess oxygen.

Spaghetti Chaeto grass is a lot less hassle than caulerpa all the way around, and you can use day/night with it, although it too works better under 24/7 light.

I guess the main consideration is whether you want a refugium or an algal filter. if it's just a filter, 24/7 is the way to go in my opinion, but if it's a fuge with other stuff in it, then you want day/night & a lot of skimming & carbon to eliminate water yellowing & such, which would also be handy with a 24/7 setup, but not as important.

It's probably going to be awhile before the definitive answer to this question has been found and agreed upon by everyone. Both methods work, and each has it's advantages over the other, so I suspect that folks will be arguing over it for quite awhile to come. Heck, we haven't even settled the issue of substrate depth yet ( plenum vs DSB ) after a decade.

[Osiris]

Hmm this is complicated topic, so many desicions.

I use reverse lighting. Cheato you can't go wrong with, i say go with it! If i had a undertank refugium i'd have 24/7 lighting


I have cheato? says who? i keep it under lock and key!

[Osiris]

BTW i do have cheato for tonites auction already put up!

[leveldrummer]

haha, yea i thought so... i gotta get the tank filled first marty, but ill be talking to you soon, i do want a fuge. i want to be able to breed pods in it, maybe (i know i know im saying MAYBE!!) one day have a mandarin, if i can pull it off, ive seen a couple at different stores that eat frozen brine. (ive actually made them show me its eating) so... just to check if this will work... i have a 20long, im gonna section it off to the plans of having a intake, bubble trap, then the fuge, then skimmer (rated for 65gallons) then the return pump. the water depth in the fuge is gonna be around 9 inches. so im planning 5 inches of live sand, some live rock, and probably going with chaeto... some basic flouresant lights with the reverse day/night cycle... does that sound ok?? maybe i need less sand and more room for the algea?

[TheOldSalt]

Yep, less sand & more room for algae.
Using miracle mud instead of sand will work wonders, too.

[leveldrummer]

i might swap the sand over to mud on a later date, but for now, being so new to the hobby, im gonna go with something a little more stable and familiar in the hobby, even though it may be worse in the long run, it might be a better idea for my right now... but check out my user journal, im building my sump now, and soon.... i will be filling it up... FINALLY!!!!!! YAAAAAAAY!!

[Osiris]

Don't forget the water! gotta add it to the salt

[leveldrummer]

oh yea, thanks marty... did you check my sump? and do you guys think it would be ok to fill with tap water the first time? (mixed with salt of course) and let it run a few days. or will the impurities harm the live rock when i put it in?? i read somewhere that the first fill is ok with tap, because the live rock will start and end the cycle, and by then i have done enough water changes with ro/di water to be ok for fish.

[Fishfirst]

I have started my tanks with tap... of coarse you get more algae blooms and stuff but tap isn't absolutely horrible for sw fish...

[Osiris]

I used tap too before bad ass algae bloom. I say just get 5g buckets, go to wally world or something and fill them with RO water, that's how i began my new tanks..............

[brian102]

or just get an ro system in ur house:P thats what we did

[CollegeReefer]

I know that this is an old thread, but i want to just say like reefneck, stay away from Caulerpa. I had gotten long and short feathery Caulerpa with a package from ipsf, and after only having it in my refugium a day before removing, little Caulerpa started to grow on the glass. Stick with Chateo

[Scuba Kid]

Originally Posted by CollegeReefer

I know that this is an old thread, but i want to just say like reefneck, stay away from Caulerpa. I had gotten long and short feathery Caulerpa with a package from ipsf, and after only having it in my refugium a day before removing, little Caulerpa started to grow on the glass. Stick with Chateo

There are hundreds of species of caulerpa. The "short feathery" kind may have been one of the more invasive and fast growing types such as those infesting the Mediterrannean (I think its taxifolia). There are other types of caulerpa more suited for refugiums.

[Fishnewb1]

go with chaeto. I have about 5 lbs of it. I throw away a large ziploc bag worth every couple months. you can have some if you want.

[flamingo]

If anyone's getting rid of any macroalgae types, let me know. I'm restarting my 30 gallon macro/seahorse tank . I have a fascination with macros- had a tank full of it a while back.

[CollegeReefer]

I have chateo, ulva lettuce algae and Red Gracilaria.