GirlWithFish
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Cool! Thanks will try one of my plant lights for them
Freshwater meets Saltwater, experimental macroalgae tank
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- Thread starter Diastro
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Diastro
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Update Day 65: The Jungle
The macro algae is taking over. Desperately needs a trim. Fast growing macros fill in the space quickly but if you're lazy like me it's just a pain to keep under control.
Blue hypnea and red pearl algae growing in beautifully. The colors in the photo are true to life, I think it just needed some time to adjust for the colors to pop.
Codium and Green Dot caulerpa are looking great and growing strong.
So is the Acid rain. This one looks pretty cool. Some gracilaria mammalaris behind it also made it through shipping. It's supposed to be a fast grower too so I hope it fills in.
Random patches of blue hypnea in the forest of caulerpa. I'm glad it's doing well, it wasn't cheap.
There's some weird stuff going on with the driftwood but so far I'm not very concerned. I hope to add some corals and maybe sponges soon. That's it for now.
The macro algae is taking over. Desperately needs a trim. Fast growing macros fill in the space quickly but if you're lazy like me it's just a pain to keep under control.
Blue hypnea and red pearl algae growing in beautifully. The colors in the photo are true to life, I think it just needed some time to adjust for the colors to pop.
Codium and Green Dot caulerpa are looking great and growing strong.
So is the Acid rain. This one looks pretty cool. Some gracilaria mammalaris behind it also made it through shipping. It's supposed to be a fast grower too so I hope it fills in.
Random patches of blue hypnea in the forest of caulerpa. I'm glad it's doing well, it wasn't cheap.
There's some weird stuff going on with the driftwood but so far I'm not very concerned. I hope to add some corals and maybe sponges soon. That's it for now.
OP
OP
Diastro
Active Member
Day 82: Added Corals!
Macroalgae is growing in beautiful. I'm really starting to like how the tank is turning out so far.
Top angled view. Mushroom corals that I bought. I was hoping someone could give me some advice on these. The centers look like they might be bleaching? I placed them high in the tank since I don't have an actual reef light but perhaps it's too strong? Or maybe it's a nutrient issue. Ive had them for a little over a week now.
Some gorgonians from the lfs. The purple one isn't extending it's polyps very much. The yellow plume one though is doing great I think.
Algae growing in well.
Top view hypnea. I wish I had a better camera, or show you guys in person. The tank is so much more striking, and especially the blue hypnea colors.
Mushroom and macro glowing in the moonlight. Again, much more vivid in person.
Photo bomb!
Macroalgae is growing in beautiful. I'm really starting to like how the tank is turning out so far.
Top angled view. Mushroom corals that I bought. I was hoping someone could give me some advice on these. The centers look like they might be bleaching? I placed them high in the tank since I don't have an actual reef light but perhaps it's too strong? Or maybe it's a nutrient issue. Ive had them for a little over a week now.
Some gorgonians from the lfs. The purple one isn't extending it's polyps very much. The yellow plume one though is doing great I think.
Algae growing in well.
Top view hypnea. I wish I had a better camera, or show you guys in person. The tank is so much more striking, and especially the blue hypnea colors.
Mushroom and macro glowing in the moonlight. Again, much more vivid in person.
Photo bomb!
OP
OP
Diastro
Active Member
Haha luckily macroalgae is not so expensive like beautiful corals are.
I may turn this tank into a reef tank if and when I convert my 55 gallon into a saltwater tank. But reefs aren't really for me. Macroalgae is so much easier and much more beautiful imo. If it can't grow in cheap plant lights I probably will never keep it.
OP
OP
Diastro
Active Member
Most I have never trimmed, the chaeto and caulerpa brachypus I trim whenever it gets unruly, maybe once a week. It grows very fast and I don't like how much area it takes up. Kind of like the duckweed of the freshwater world, or maybe anacharis.
OP
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Diastro
Active Member
Day 103:
Tank is basically overrun with algae at this point. My large blue hypnea piece sadly withered away. Ive been really hands off with this tank and when all the algae growth exploded it probably tanked the nutrients and caused the hypnea to die. However there is still a bunch of chunks everywhere that are thriving so it's not a complete loss. Clown fish is doing great, and the sexy shrimps are great as well. The gorgonians and mushroom coral are also good so far. I added some pulsing xenia to the tank and it's loving it. Enjoy these pictures I took today. I hope to see others set up their own macroalgae tanks!
Tank is basically overrun with algae at this point. My large blue hypnea piece sadly withered away. Ive been really hands off with this tank and when all the algae growth exploded it probably tanked the nutrients and caused the hypnea to die. However there is still a bunch of chunks everywhere that are thriving so it's not a complete loss. Clown fish is doing great, and the sexy shrimps are great as well. The gorgonians and mushroom coral are also good so far. I added some pulsing xenia to the tank and it's loving it. Enjoy these pictures I took today. I hope to see others set up their own macroalgae tanks!
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besskurz
Active Member
I really like this 'natural' look.
Reminds me this guy in Japan.
www.instagram.com
Most of aquariums are too focused In perfection, right corals in the right place and all the aquascape rules... And we forget to just admire how nature is cool.
Congratulations this is a really nice tank.
Reminds me this guy in Japan.
SONO Aquaplants Farm🌿 on Instagram: "それぞれの海藻に出会った時の思い出がある。 育てる中で学ぶことが沢山ある。 海藻を愛してるし、 海藻を愛でる人々は大切な同志である。 私は海藻の魅力や素晴らしさを 海と大先輩方から学んだ。 この出会いを永遠に大切にしたい。 —🏖—🦀—🚢— #マリンボトルアクアリウム #marinebottleaquarium #sonoメソッドマリン #SONOmethodMarine #海藻レイアウト水槽 #macroalg
887 likes, 16 comments - sono_aqua_pfm on April 11, 2023: "それぞれの海藻に出会った時の思い出がある。 育てる中で学ぶことが沢山ある。 海藻を愛してるし、 海藻を愛でる人々は大切な同志である。 私は海藻の魅力や素晴らしさを 海と大先輩方から学んだ。 この出会いを永遠に大切にしたい。 —🏖—🦀—🚢— #マリンボトルアクアリウム #marinebottleaquarium #sonoメソッドマリン #SONOmethodMarine #海藻レイアウト水槽 #macroalgae #sono育苗ブロック...
www.instagram.com
Most of aquariums are too focused In perfection, right corals in the right place and all the aquascape rules... And we forget to just admire how nature is cool.
Congratulations this is a really nice tank.
OP
OP
Diastro
Active Member
Appreciate the compliment. Glad you linked that Instagram, he has truly beautiful tanks. There is just something about the wild nature of macroalgae and corals under the white lights that's just amazing.I really like this 'natural' look.
Reminds me this guy in Japan.
SONO Aquaplants Farm🌿 on Instagram: "それぞれの海藻に出会った時の思い出がある。 育てる中で学ぶことが沢山ある。 海藻を愛してるし、 海藻を愛でる人々は大切な同志である。 私は海藻の魅力や素晴らしさを 海と大先輩方から学んだ。 この出会いを永遠に大切にしたい。 —🏖—🦀—🚢— #マリンボトルアクアリウム #marinebottleaquarium #sonoメソッドマリン #SONOmethodMarine #海藻レイアウト水槽 #macroalg
887 likes, 16 comments - sono_aqua_pfm on April 11, 2023: "それぞれの海藻に出会った時の思い出がある。 育てる中で学ぶことが沢山ある。 海藻を愛してるし、 海藻を愛でる人々は大切な同志である。 私は海藻の魅力や素晴らしさを 海と大先輩方から学んだ。 この出会いを永遠に大切にしたい。 —🏖—🦀—🚢— #マリンボトルアクアリウム #marinebottleaquarium #sonoメソッドマリン #SONOmethodMarine #海藻レイアウト水槽 #macroalgae #sono育苗ブロック...
Most of aquariums are too focused In perfection, right corals in the right place and all the aquascape rules... And we forget to just admire how nature is cool.
Congratulations this is a really nice tank.
Gumbies R Us
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This has been a fun tank to follow; love seeing the updates!!
OP
OP
Diastro
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The update no one was hoping for:
The macroalgae tank is not looking it best. After being infested by red hair algae, and some die offs, I definitely didn't put much effort into it. Not to mention now Im currently working/doing school every day.
The caulerpas took off like rockets. It's not beautiful, but it's kind of interesting. They grew into a mat like structures that I can push around. It's actually quite fun. I'm thinking of removing everything and starting over.
Although the tank is still a thriving ecosystem. So I'm hesitant to restart it.
Here it was just a couple weeks ago. It has a lot of ups and downs. I moved the clown to the new 22 gallon tank which I'm focusing more on. (But of course it has a horrendous diatom bloom right now). Maybe I just need to trim everything down and get it moving again.
themcnertney
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strich
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Dunno where you went with this over the past 6 months but I just wanted to urge you to keep going! I think if be great to see a bit of a restart on it by cutting back and pulling out a ton of the algae.
These tracks are so much better than the ugly coral sps tanks honestly. I think a good mix tank is the ultimate goal and you were well on your way with it!
I'd say one thing is clear from your experiment - those fast growing algae need to be kept in check as they can quickly run away and probably start consuming much of the shared resources in the tank, starving others.
I wish we got a chance to see if any corals sting macro algae or if they can coexist.
These tracks are so much better than the ugly coral sps tanks honestly. I think a good mix tank is the ultimate goal and you were well on your way with it!
I'd say one thing is clear from your experiment - those fast growing algae need to be kept in check as they can quickly run away and probably start consuming much of the shared resources in the tank, starving others.
I wish we got a chance to see if any corals sting macro algae or if they can coexist.
