Macroalgae ID

[florida joe]

My friend as an experienced hobbyist you tailored your tank to what you were working with or without. In your case it seems the lack of rock for anaerobic bacteria to colonize. I cannot speak for you but I assume you then made the decision to introduce macro algae to deal with your nitrates. May I ask why did you not go with frequent water changes or dosing?

 

[2quills]

My friend as an experienced hobbyist you tailored your tank to what you were working with or without. In your case it seems the lack of rock for anaerobic bacteria to colonize. I cannot speak for you but I assume you then made the decision to introduce macro algae to deal with your nitrates. May I ask why did you not go with frequent water changes or dosing?

I dose 2 part solution. 15% water change once a month but it's more for replenishing macro elements than it is for nitrate or phosphate.

I tend to average 60 hour work weeks for 8 months out of the year. Frequent water changes are more work than I have time or want to deal with to be honest. And this isn't my only hobby.

 

[Shilpan]

^Same reason I went with macroalgae too.

Seems very cheap. It's working. And long work hours.

 

[Shilpan]

I added the caulerpa by the way. It's growing new leaves every day. Just wow!

 

[florida joe]

Remember to cut back frequently

 

[Shilpan]

Will do! Once the chaeto grows a bit better I'll remove most of the caulerpa.

How much of the plant do I remove each week? Can't seem to find much online about it.

 

[lmforbis]

When my chaeto fills my fuge I remove about half.

 

[florida joe]

Will do! Once the chaeto grows a bit better I'll remove most of the caulerpa.

How much of the plant do I remove each week? Can't seem to find much online about it.

caulerpa takes constant vigil. you want to cut back enough to keep it feed so it does not go sexual yet not so far back as it does not do its job on your nitrates. Just a note on chaeto it works best when its in an environment were the water flow through it keeps it tumbling

 

[bang guy]

fCouple notes from my experience. Trim out the older stems, not the new growth. Trimming the new growth causes it to halt growth for a couple days and it is the growth of the algae that consumes the Phosphates and Nitrogen. This also reduces the risk of sporulation. If you see the stems of Caulerpa start to turn white with dark green dots don't wait. Immediately remove all of the stems that are not solid green.

With Chaeto, pull the ball open and remove the algae from the middle of the ball or pull of an end of the ball and scoop out the middle. If that turns the ball inside out then trim it up and push it outside in again.

Remove about a third of the existing algae each week.

 

[Shilpan]

Thank you

Once the nitrates are lower and my fish are in, I'll be removing the caulerpa anyway. And just keeping the chaeto. Chaeto is too small at the moment but it's starting to grow well.

 

[2quills]

If you don't plan on keeping the caulerpa I'd just dispose of if safely. Chaeto will grow faster without any competition but it's probably not a big deal either way.

Did you keep some of the live rock rubble in the sump?

Have you checked for phosphates at all? Just curious.

 

[Shilpan]

Yes I mean gonna dry it out and bin it. Don't wanna introduce it to any water ways.

Ahh ok bin it now? I was gonna let nitrates fall a little further. But I guess the chaeto will eventually grow enough to do that eh?

Yes I kept some, but there's room for macroalgae AND I can see the bottom so I can siphon it out with water changes.

Nah I haven't, was gonna not buy any more test kits until a few months down the line when I start corals.

 

[florida joe]

a point of info. The recommended method of deposing of caulerpa is that you put the clippings inside a sealed plastic bag and keep them frozen for 24 hours before being disposed of with the household waste.

 

[bang guy]

My preference is the compost heap. It's outstanding fertilizer for tomatoes.

 

[florida joe]

My preference is the compost heap. It's outstanding fertilizer for tomatoes.

As long and you dont live in a place with a heavy rainy season like i do and the runoff can get into lakes or the gulf

 

[Shilpan]

Thank you Joe and Bang Guy I will dispose of it safely.

 

[lmforbis]

I compost mine too but I live in Minnesota no chance it will get to the gulf unless it makes it all the way down the missippi to New Orleans. A minnesota winter does pretty much the same thing as Joe recommends.