Additional Dosing Requirements for Large Macro Algae Refugium ??

[JesseLander]

What dosing should be done on a large macro refugium? I know about iron (Fe), and will guess iodine but there are surely others. I can't imagine complex and beautiful structures like Dragon's Breathe macro growing off of light, nitrate, phosphate, iron, and CO2 alone. I want to upgrade my refugium to house larger quantity and variety of macro algae and marine plants but don't want to deplete any vital nutrients for my reef. Hopefully there are also test kits for said nutrients. Or is this a bad idea to do a very large macro refugium on a reef and better to keep it small?

 

[JesseLander]

I tried to find a post on this topic but couldn't find one using search term "macro algae" but nothing even related seemed to come up. I am new here and really digging this site but not sure whats up with the search. Maybe there just aren't many topics on this? Also not sure if I put this post in the most appropriate location.

 

[Lenny_S]

My macro algae section of my refugium is large by most standards I think. It's 18x24 and is around 15 gallons. I only have Chaeto and red Gracelaria in it. The stuff grows like crazy and has great color. I don't have a test for it, but I dose reef iodine from SeaChem at about 1/2 the recommended amount on the bottle.

Other than that I only dose the normal stuff for a reef tank (Ca, Mg, Alk) and reef trace, also at 1/2 the recommendation on the bottle.

 

[Ligershark]

My macro (chaeto and dragon breath flame algae) grows like crazy and I do not dose anything extra then 2 part and some mag once in a while.

 

[Lenny_S]

My macro (chaeto and dragon breath flame algae) grows like crazy and I do not dose anything extra then 2 part and some mag once in a while.

Sounds like you should try not dosing anything to begin with and see how things do. In my case the Gracilaria was a little pink looking, and I have a few scarlet cleaner and peppermint shrimp, so I added a little iodine. Within a couple of days the Gracilaria turned a nice deep red and the shrimp all molt very nicely.
Every system is unique, no to react the same way. So much of this is trial and error.

 

[JesseLander]

Though in part my concern is healthy macro, it is mostly for the coral and being sure to replace any elements that the macro saps from the water.

 

[Lenny_S]

Though in part my concern is healthy macro, it is mostly for the coral and being sure to replace any elements that the macro saps from the water.

I dose the reef face more because I don't do water changes, so I add the trace elements that would ordinarily be added through a water change with dosing. All of my corals, a mix of SPS, LPS, and a couple of softies all thrive.
Whatever nutrient/trace element overlap there may be between the 2 is balanced just fine with only the reef trace.

 

[JesseLander]

Ok, lets take this one step further. Forget the reef and lets just take a gigantic 1000 gallon tank full of macro. What would you dose?

 

[Lenny_S]

Ok, lets take this one step further. Forget the reef and lets just take a gigantic 1000 gallon tank full of macro. What would you dose?

In that case I probably would. In that kind of closed system even the basic nutrients would need to get in there somehow. In a mixed system though you have fish and inverts being fed which produces nutrients the macro use. So there is seldom a need to dose anything. I've done a planted tank before where I had to dose nitrate, phosphate, potassium and iodine because it was a closed system with no other source for those things.

 

[JesseLander]

Excellent! Now we are getting somewhere. I think you gave me a clue on the feeding part. Maybe ALL of the nutrients (nitrate, phosphate, etc...) and elements (potassium, iodine, iron, etc...) are simply in the Food that we feed. Well, maybe that's obvious but I think brings up a good point. Since I would be feeding the pods, nitrate and phosphate at least should be taken care of. Ok, so potassium, iodine, and we already know iron right? Anything else? Possibly CO2.

 

[DLuce510]

I run a Triton system which contains iron and trace but besides that I dose nitrogen flourish to maintain my No3 around 2ppm. I guess you could measure ORP but to the opposite, meaning lower ORP means more co2 but me personally wouldn't use co2 directly in a marine tank (except through a calcium reactor) due to the ph drop.
Basically what I'm trying to say is, iron and nitrate have grown prolific macro. Keep it simple.

 

[Lenny_S]

Hmmm... I haven't added any iron, but I do run GFO once in awhile, maybe that adds it or it comes in some other way.

 

[JesseLander]

Yes, GFO will release iron

 

[Bryn]

@JesseLander What did you end up doing with your Macro dosing?

 

[JesseLander]

I am still trying to get my iron up lol. I was dosing one brand a lot but still could not get detectable iron tests so I switched to another brand. Still can't get detectable iron. Could be a bad test kit.

 

[Esquire805]

Man 6ou just need

I am still trying to get my iron up lol. I was dosing one brand a lot but still could not get detectable iron tests so I switched to another brand. Still can't get detectable iron. Could be a bad test kit.

To stock up your fish and dose a 2 part iron and calcium nitrate I think I will make a video for this

 

[bubblemytip]

I am still trying to get my iron up lol. I was dosing one brand a lot but still could not get detectable iron tests so I switched to another brand. Still can't get detectable iron. Could be a bad test kit.

Iron needs to be tested within 60mins of dosing. It will quickly become undetectable, as it is scavenged by a reef very quickly. It shouldn't be detectable 24/7.

 

[Esquire805]

Watch out with to much iron or algae bloom