I have a Question about supplements for my Plants.

[soapmyster]

I was wondering if anyone would be willing to help me out? I have the following plants in my 10 Gallon refugium tank: Grape caulerpa, brillo algae, sea lettuce, Red Gracilaria, Fucus Kelp, Shaving Brush, and Blade plants. They all seem to be doing well, some growing faster then others. I have 2 compact bulbs, 1 is the atinic 03 and the other is the 1000K daylight. Would I or Should I use any kind of supplements (Iron/calcium) for these plants at all?

 

[soapmyster]

Anyone has a recomendation for me on what do to?

 

[mudplayerx]

Marine plants and macroalgae, are organisms that are incredibly efficient at drawing nutrients out of the water. No supplementation is really necessary in my opinion. Also, adding supplements to a fuge is sort of self-defeating as the fuge is there to draw excess nutrients out of the tank.

 

[soapmyster]

I see, well I just thought that maybe not adding supplement is not enough for the plants. I assumed that they may need an extra boost of iron/calcium. But if you think that the refugium is self maintained then buying supplements would be a waste of money in your opinion?

 

[ophiura]

Well, IMO, you should be keeping a proper calcium level regardless. If you are doing that then good deal (of course also alkalinity is important). But Iron I would be wary of adding. The purpose of a refugium in part is to grow macroalgae to export nitrates, a fertilizer derived from animals and waste. I wouldn't personally spend money to make the algae grow faster just so you have to harvest and throw it out faster. I suppose that if you are trading it in for credit maybe but I am wary of overdosing iron into a system, personally. Just keep up on water changes, and watch that your calcium is within normal range.