Best macro algae

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holdendaniel

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looking to plant my refuge curious what people are using out there i wanna hear all the pros and con's
 
A lot of people like either cheato or various forms of calupera. I use a mix of a bunch of them because I have the space and it amuses me. Cheato is pretty hardy, and grows fast. Calupera does as well, but theres some risk with it going 'sexual' and releasing a mess of spores in to the tank. I've recently been leaning towards more rooted structure plants, especially ones tangs like to eat. always good to give them variety.
 
I like just having a ball of cheato in my sump. Grows fast and isnt invasive if some gets into the display.
 
i have found most people mix the two of thoses together and i have been told the calupera is a little poisnous when thinning out.
 
DolphinLVR said:
First I have heard of this! Did you read this somewhere? if so can you provide a link as I would like to know.
Click to expand...


So what makes a good or "best" algae for nutrient exporting refugiums? Besides being fast-growing and stable, it must also be non-aggressive. On this point, we have learned some painful lessons through the years about the genus Caulerpa. You will hear some aquarists say that Caulerpa is the best algae for refugiums, and you will find many others that say it is the worst! How can there be such a great difference of opinion? I will tell you that both are correct. In the hands of a knowledgeable aquarist that understands the needs and dangers of Caulerpa, it can be a wonderful boon. But in the hands of the unprepared and newer aquarists, it may eventually become a disaster. Although I truly admire the beauty and effectiveness of the genus Caulerpa as decor and as a vehicle for nutrient export, I rarely recommend that it be cultured in large quantities. It's just too dangerous.

One of the biggest complaints about Caulerpa is that it is prone to sudden die-offs from stress or sexual reproduction. So many of the undesirable elements that it had absorbed into its great mass in the days and weeks prior get suddenly purged into the water during these massive, vegetative events. The shock is too great for many organisms, and aquarists have reported some catastrophic losses of display creatures after such events. Beyond any issues of toxins released, though, there is the simple fact that several kilograms of vegetable matter (the dying Caulerpa colony) are rapidly decaying in the system. The sudden proliferation of bacteria and simultaneous increase in demand for oxygen (bacterial bloom) on the decomposing colony is enough to stress or kill aquarium fishes. Ironically, this dramatic and potentially devastating disadvantage to Caulerpa is easily avoided!

There are two ways to generally reduce vegetative die-offs of Caulerpa: 1) keep it in stasis, or 2) interrupt its life cycle with strategic pruning. On the former count, "stasis" is "in layman's terms" a state whereby the Caulerpa does not get to complete its life cycle by keeping it under constant illumination (as recommended by some advocates of the mud system refugiums keepers). In practical hobby applications, Caulerpa is one of the only algae species that this can be applied to. The majority of plants and algae must have a period of respiration (day/night photoperiods). Speaking to the latter possibility for staving off die-offs, one can simply interrupt the cycle of maturity by frequent and aggressive thinning or pruning. Thinning is best as Caulerpa fronds are single cells (the largest single-celled organisms on the planet, as I recall), to cut or break a frond itself can lead to sapping of the entire cell (releasing noxious or toxic elements), or even a complete and rapid die-off of the entire colony! A patch of Caulerpa though will naturally grow many, branching fronds which naturally break and separate on their own. Take note of the older growth and thin it out of the bunch. This is best done habitually on a weekly basis with fast growth, but no longer than monthly ideally. The natural life cycle of most species of Caulerpa falls within three to six months. The goal here is to interrupt that cycle to prevent sexual reproduction and massive die-off.
 
Like the article says In the hands of a knowledgeable aquarist that understands the needs and dangers of Caulerpa...
I've utilized a mix of Caulerpa and Halimeda and recently Chaeto in my sump/fuge for over 20 years lit 24/7 without ever a collapse. As any other living matter in our isolated systems we need to know and understand thier needs for life to be successfull. The problem I've had with other types ie; ulva or any broad leaf structure algae/kelps is that they can plug overflows, intakes and pumps quickly and flood your systems or burnout pumps.

Todd
 
Anybody know a good website to get just straight chatoe from i cant find anybody with just clean chatoe
 
What do you mean by just clean chaeto? Thats the only macro algae I have in my sump. No Calupera in my tank at all. You can have like a sandwich size bag if you want. Its full of pods and bristle stars.
 
very nice thats what i want...i dont like the idea of toxins..ill grow other algaes to feed fish in a separte tank system no dt
 
If you are up north of bellingham, you are also welcome to some out of my tank. Also have some cool low light red algea that my tangs seem to love.
 
i prefer caluerpa... it sucks nutrients waay faster than chaetomorpha, as mentioned, you just gotta keep the lights on and prune it regularly.

as i recall, different algaes have different things they absorb, and different rates of absortion, so it seems that a mixture of algae is best..

i've always wanted to do a little macroalgae tank
w/ seagrasses, red algaes, caluerpas, and lettuces. it would probably have to be skimmerless though ... :cry:
 
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