Ska's 28 Macro Algae Display

[Chase31]

well right now as the tank has nothing in it i would say thats okay, but once the rock is in i would run the skimmer 24/7, also with the lights im doing the same thing

[whatcaneyedo]

Margarita snails are said to be sub-tropical and eventually cook in normal reef tank temperatures so I would skip those. My personal favorites are mini brittle stars, Abalone, Turbo snails and Stomatella snails. LFS wont sell mini brittle stars or Stomatella but if you're lucky you will get them on your liverock.

I'd run the skimmer constantly as well. Its actually more important for it to run at night than during the day (if you had to pick one). Algae stops performing photosynthesis in the dark which causes your pH to drop because CO2 builds up. A skimmer helps keep the water well oxygenated and buffers this effect.

[skabooya]

What if i want to grow algae (macro algae)?

[Chase31]

id do it in the sump

[whatcaneyedo]

Gracillaria is pretty non invasive and is a great source of red color. Thats the only one I would dare put into a display tank. Halimedia, chaeto, caulerpa, etc all have a way of taking over and are better suited in a refugium section of a sump.

[skabooya]

I really dont mind the "take over". I would love to do a macro tank with some corals which is what i was planning for the last couple of months. I entertained the idea a few years ago and I am again. I love planted reef tanks.
The corals will be softies, shrooms, zoas, cloves, xenia and some lps like frogspawn or a torch and maybe an acan and candy cane
I am aiming for a mature look tank where there are a few corals and they just spread everywhere

[skabooya]

So far for a CUC Im looking at
1 hermit crab
2 certh
2 nassarius
and whatever comes on my LR if im a lucky one


Anything else??

Remember I want to grow macro algae but not micro algae.

Then after a bit I want to get 1 or 2 skunk cleaner hermits, fan worms.
And for fish; 2 true percs.

I may have to add something else to get the bioload up at a later date to increase trates in the water for the macroalgae. Its hard to choose. The only other fish I really want is a coral beauty (my fav) but it will just eat all the macro
Gotta look into that bit a lot more.

[whatcaneyedo]

Hate to rub it in but...

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

Gracillaria is pretty non invasive and is a great source of red color. Thats the only one I would dare put into a display tank. Halimedia, chaeto, caulerpa, etc all have a way of taking over and are better suited to a refugium section of a sump.

Twice I've accidentally ended up with caulerpa in my display and it took a long time to get it out. Removing a few pieces of rock at a time and leaving them in a dark tub of water for a while worked alright. Some manual removal with tweezers was also necessary. There is no guarantee that a Tang will eat it either. They're hit and miss like most fish.

EDIT: J&L and Progressive Reef both have several varieties of photosynthetic gorgonians for sale right now.

[skabooya]

:P Yea I know. But I wanted and still would like a macro algae tank. Unfortunately it is much more management than I believed. You MUST trim weekly, no ifs and's or but's. Its gotta be religious trimming.

I can handle dosing and topping off no problem but weekly trimming took some time. I was in my tank for 30-45 min at least once a week trimming. Thats not including top offs and measuring the proper dosing amounts.

The grape weed just grows too fast. Everything else (except for pest algae) is pretty manageable. It grows slow enough or is strong enough where I could grab a chunk and rip it off the rock without much difficulty.