MacroAlgae to Prevent Ugly Stage

[El Toro]

Converting a 37 gallon to a macro algae planted tank and am wondering if I just add a bunch of Macro Algae can/should I avoid an ugly stage?

I'm 10 days into the cycle reading about 30 ppm Nitrates and 1ppm Phosphate so lots of nutrients. I have 4 pieces live rock and 60 lbs CaribSea Arag-Alive and am running 500g/h canister. I also plan to dump a ton of Tig and Apocyclops into the tank.

Should I hold off and let the Uglies happen or try getting ahead of it naturally with nutrient sucking Macros?

 

[FUNGI]

Its gonna take time....not as fast as people think, so, you'll get the uglies regardless

 

[KrisReef]

Partially agree with @FUNGI

But if you want a macro algae tank I think I would start with an inexpensive macro and see how the tank progresses. You are likely to have a few "stages" along the way but I don't see any reason not to put in some plant(s) and see if one of the Stages happens to be a "Wells Fargo" of macro's instead of the nasties that often occur.

Remember some macros eat calcium so be prepared to provide nutrients beyond NO3 and PO4, as needed.

 

[Dan_P]

Converting a 37 gallon to a macro algae planted tank and am wondering if I just add a bunch of Macro Algae can/should I avoid an ugly stage?

I'm 10 days into the cycle reading about 30 ppm Nitrates and 1ppm Phosphate so lots of nutrients. I have 4 pieces live rock and 60 lbs CaribSea Arag-Alive and am running 500g/h canister. I also plan to dump a ton of Tig and Apocyclops into the tank.

Should I hold off and let the Uglies happen or try getting ahead of it naturally with nutrient sucking Macros?

Just curious about your reasoning for cycling an aquarium that will be a macro algae planted system.

 

[El Toro]

Partially agree with @FUNGI

But if you want a macro algae tank I think I would start with an inexpensive macro and see how the tank progresses. You are likely to have a few "stages" along the way but I don't see any reason not to put in some plant(s) and see if one of the Stages happens to be a "Wells Fargo" of macro's instead of the nasties that often occur.

Remember some macros eat calcium so be prepared to provide nutrients beyond NO3 and PO4, as needed.

I have excess chaeto from my coral tank refugium. I thought about "floating" some but really dont want chaeto as part of the neighborhood in the new tank. Any recommendations on cheap and hungry MA?

 

[El Toro]

Just curious about your reasoning for cycling an aquarium that will be a macro algae planted system.

I will be adding animals and softies in a few months.

The tank was hosting my 8 inch goldfish until a weekend Ammonia spike

 

[KrisReef]

I have excess chaeto from my coral tank refugium. I thought about "floating" some but really dont want chaeto as part of the neighborhood in the new tank. Any recommendations on cheap and hungry MA?

You need to get what you like and what's available. I have also have chaeto in the fuge, but I added a red macro from Algae barn and it is slowly growing thicker as I harvest the chaeto. I've been giving excess fuge plants to a fav LFS and I suspect that they are selling them to other folks who happen to find them.

 

[JoJosReef]

I'd go straight in with the macros. They don't care about a cycling tank--they'll happily eat up the ammonia too. Live rock should already be seeded, so not really an issue with macros preventing expansion of your bacterial population.

Botrycladia is one of my favorites. Codium does well. Most Caulerpa is not allowed in CA, but that stuff grows like wildfire in any case. Pom pom gracilaria grows well. Ulva will grow extremely fast, but you run the risk of it smothering your other macros.

I would wait until you have a stable tank before introducing interesting macros like blue hypnea, galaxaura and halymenia.

If it were me, I'd put Botry, Codium and Gracilaria hayi (pom pom gracilaria) right in and let them take off. If uglies don't start up, I'd then go with Galaxaura, Chondria, some sponges and start with some calcareous marcros like Halimeda and mermaid fan. Keep an eye on bubble algae as well since it is a nuisance when it starts growing on your macros and smothering it. Dragon's breath somewhere in there. I don't know if you're planning on sargassum or no, but that's another one to get when available. Always get Padina if you see it!

 

[El Toro]

Yes thank you!

Im definitely planning on gracilaria and this dictyota.
No caulerpa for sure.

Dictyota Algae 2″ Ball

addictivereefkeeping.com

 

[El Toro]

I'd go straight in with the macros. They don't care about a cycling tank--they'll happily eat up the ammonia too. Live rock should already be seeded, so not really an issue with macros preventing expansion of your bacterial population.

Botrycladia is one of my favorites. Codium does well. Most Caulerpa is not allowed in CA, but that stuff grows like wildfire in any case. Pom pom gracilaria grows well. Ulva will grow extremely fast, but you run the risk of it smothering your other macros.

I would wait until you have a stable tank before introducing interesting macros like blue hypnea, galaxaura and halymenia.

If it were me, I'd put Botry, Codium and Gracilaria hayi (pom pom gracilaria) right in and let them take off. If uglies don't start up, I'd then go with Galaxaura, Chondria, some sponges and start with some calcareous marcros like Halimeda and mermaid fan. Keep an eye on bubble algae as well since it is a nuisance when it starts growing on your macros and smothering it. Dragon's breath somewhere in there. I don't know if you're planning on sargassum or no, but that's another one to get when available. Always get Padina if you see it!

Padina was one I hadnt considered. I like it's plating style of growth.

<head> <title>Macroalgae For Marine Reef Aquariums: Padina

 

[slingfox]

I had the same thought as you when I started my tank a few months ago. As a consequence I got both chaeto and ulva and ran it with a grow light (AI Blade Refugium light) for 12 hours a day and dosed ChaetoGrow twice a week. My macroalgae exploded in growth. I had only a few coral frags and 2 fish in a 140 gallon system. Eventually the ulva grew all over my rockwork (2 inches or more everywhere).

Since I was growing so much macroalgae in the refugium and display tank my nitrates and phosphate were undetectable for a month. I eventually nuked my rocks by taking them out, scrubbing with a brush, and soaking in hydrogen peroxide. The ulva grew back so I had to remove all the macroalgae from my refugium and ran a cycle with ReefFlux. Around this time I overdosed hydrogen peroxide (leak in dosing apparatus) which killed all my snails. Once the rocks were clean of algae dinos took over my entire tank. I have been battling the uglies for the last month.

In retrospect I had too much ceramic media (I had two gallons of Seachem Matrix sitting in my sump!) and too much macroalgae with very low bio load. I wish I had started with some amount of live rock since battling the uglies can be expensive.

I no longer grow ulva since I don't want it to invade my display tank again. I just started growing chaeto agajn am but very slowly (lower light period and no ChaetoGrow dosing) until I get more livestock. Don't do what I did and supercharge your tank with massive amounts of macroalgae and ceramic media! Running nutrients in a new tank at zero for an extended period leaves the door open to dinos when the opportunity arises.

 

[JoJosReef]

Yes thank you!

Im definitely planning on gracilaria and this dictyota.
No caulerpa for sure.

Dictyota Algae 2″ Ball

addictivereefkeeping.com

dictyota can become a bit invasive. I've had it and found it manageable, though.

 

[Spare time]

Don't use tig pods. They don't last in reef tanks.

 

[slingfox]

Converting a 37 gallon to a macro algae planted tank and am wondering if I just add a bunch of Macro Algae can/should I avoid an ugly stage?

I'm 10 days into the cycle reading about 30 ppm Nitrates and 1ppm Phosphate so lots of nutrients. I have 4 pieces live rock and 60 lbs CaribSea Arag-Alive and am running 500g/h canister. I also plan to dump a ton of Tig and Apocyclops into the tank.

Should I hold off and let the Uglies happen or try getting ahead of it naturally with nutrient sucking Macros?

As detailed in my post above, I went overboard with nutrient removal via massive amounts of ceramic media (2 gallons of Seachem Matrix in my sump + lots of dry rock in display) and turbo charged macroalgae growth. This caused my nutrients to bottom out. Eventually macroalgae took over my display tank. When I got rid of it dinos took over and I have been battling the uglies for the last month. Very educational experience!

 

[Spare time]

PS the uglies are better prevented with predation rather than competition.

 

[El Toro]

PS the uglies are better prevented with predation rather than competition.

1st animals will be Nassarius and Turbos. I have a Pencil Urchin in my reef tank. She may get a trip to the Planted tank if diatoms and GHA begin to overwhelm the snails.

 

[JoJosReef]

Turbos can do a number on macros if they aren't well established.

 

[MrGisonni]

This was standard operating procedure 30 years ago. Go for it.