Are mixed macro algae tanks harder to keep than SPS tanks

[sixty_reefer]

Currently about 15-16.

Are they all thriving

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Are they all thriving

They are. I dose cheatogro, ammonia and a little PO4. Only reason for PO4 is I am phosphate limited and without it, I end up with dinos all over the macro.

Some quick pics.

 

[sixty_reefer]

They are. I dose cheatogro, ammonia and a little PO4. Only reason for PO4 is I am phosphate limited and without it, I end up with dinos all over the macro.

Some quick pics.

It doesn’t surprise me at all planted tanks are a challenge regarding nutrients, I would take that you disagree on having algae’s dying for no apparent reason every now and sometimes being harder to keep than sps tanks?

 

[Eagle_Steve]

It doesn’t surprise me at all planted tanks are a challenge regarding nutrients, I would take that you disagree on having algae’s dying for no apparent reason every now and sometimes being harder to keep than sps tanks?

I have both types of tanks and they both come with challenges specific to each.

I have found, depending on the species, macro tanks are a little more work than SPS for me. With SPS, I can throw in herbivores and a diverse clean up crew to eat nuisance algae. In a macro tank, I have to be very specific about what to use for nuisance algae.

For me though, SPS seems to do well with stability and upkeep of dosing amounts as things grow. With macro, there are a ton of variables to factor in besides the big 3. Macro going sexual , dosing way more things than I have to for SPS and then nuisance algae control.

Add in the above and I still have to dose for alk, calcium and mag. It gets a little tricky at times. While macro does not use a ton of that, some of the clacified macros do and then there is coralline algae lol. It loves that stuff.

End of day for me, both are pretty easy after all of the years of work put into them. I just keep up on dosing for whatever, trim macros as needed and enjoy my tanks. All with the added benefit of occasional GHA removes from the macro tanks lol.

 

[Ronisreef]

I have both types of tanks and they both come with challenges specific to each.

I have found, depending on the species, macro tanks are a little more work than SPS for me. With SPS, I can throw in herbivores and a diverse clean up crew to eat nuisance algae. In a macro tank, I have to be very specific about what to use for nuisance algae.

For me though, SPS seems to do well with stability and upkeep of dosing amounts as things grow. With macro, there are a ton of variables to factor in besides the big 3. Macro going sexual , dosing way more things than I have to for SPS and then nuisance algae control.

Add in the above and I still have to dose for alk, calcium and mag. It gets a little tricky at times. While macro does not use a ton of that, some of the clacified macros do and then there is coralline algae lol. It loves that stuff.

End of day for me, both are pretty easy after all of the years of work put into them. I just keep up on dosing for whatever, trim macros as needed and enjoy my tanks. All with the added benefit of occasional GHA removes from the macro tanks lol.

Do you mind going into a little more detail into the things your needing to dose into your macro tank as I’m looking to set up a similar system
Also what are the things you’re using to target specific nuisance algae
What lighting are you running