Tigahboy's Macroalgae Tank(s)

[Tigahboy]

This is a love story. About a [tigah]boy who fell in love with macroalgae...

So I became totally enamored with macroalgae when I added them to a couple of my prior reef tanks (you can find them here in this thread), and I've always been drawn to the freshwater planted tank/scape aesthetic, so decided to take a stab (usually with curved stainless steel scissors) at a saltwater planted tank with macroalgae as the star. Here's the breakdown.

Set-up

Tank: UNS 45A (9 gallons)
Light: Twinstar Light II 450E (full spectrum planted tank lights)
Pump: Sicce Syncra 0.5
Media: InTank Filter Floss Holder (was made for a WB7), InTank Filter Floss, and MarinePure Bio Cubes
Heater: Cobalt Neo-Therm 75w Heater
Substrate: Caribsea Fiji Pink Sand
LR: KPAquatics Premium Live Rock

Inhabitants

Macroalgae: Gracilaria hayi (red macroalgae), Caulerpa prolifera (red macroalgae), and Hypnea pannosa (blue macroalge)
Coral: Pterogorgia citrina (Yellow Sea Whip Gorg) and Pterogorgia anceps (Purple Ribbon Gorg)
Fish: Coryphopterus personatus (Masked Gobies)
Inverts: Various hermits and snails

Some more recent shots:

I'm planning a couple more macroalgae tanks (I'm hooked!), so will post them in this thread as well. Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by!

 

[Tigahboy]

Current dosing regimen:

•Brightwell Aquatics CheatoGro (fertilizer)
•NeoNitro (nitrates)
•NeoPhos (phosphates)
•Ferrion (ferrous iron)
•ATI Essentials Pro Part 1 (alk)

 

[BAUCE]

Have been following along on Instagram and I’m glad to see you here. Great execution of planted marine tank.

 

[najer]

Looking very nice, love macros.

 

[Tigahboy]

Have been following along on Instagram and I’m glad to see you here. Great execution of planted marine tank.

Thank you! I’m terrible at updating threads, so we’ll see how this goes.

Looking very nice, love macros.

Thanks! Hoping to work on another macro project this weekend. Have another tank just sitting in my garage.

 

[CoralClasher]

Current dosing regimen:

•Brightwell Aquatics CheatoGro (fertilizer)
•NeoNitro (nitrates)
•NeoPhos (phosphates)
•Ferrion (ferrous iron)
•ATI Essentials Pro Part 1 (alk)

Please tell more information. What levels do you keep phosphate and No3? How much CheatoGro and when do you add more? When would you add just iron and not just more fertilizer?

 

[Tigahboy]

Please tell more information. What levels do you keep phosphate and No3? How much CheatoGro and when do you add more? When would you add just iron and not just more fertilizer?

I try to keep my phosphates at 0.05 and nitrates at 5 (but of course you can go higher and macroalgae will love that). I have pretty good growth at these levels, so I've kept them around here.

I honestly think ChaetoGro may be all you need (since it also has iron in it), but I thought maybe extra iron couldn't hurt. I don't test for stuff in ChaetoGro or iron so I just dose those 2 products in the recommended amounts on the bottle (will vary depending on your tank size).

 

[Tigahboy]

Some fish shots to mix things up.

 

[samnaz]

So glad you decided to start a thread here, I follow you on IG. Looking forward to the new setups!

 

[Tigahboy]

So glad you decided to start a thread here, I follow you on IG. Looking forward to the new setups!

Thanks for following along! ;Cat

 

[Tigahboy]

A couple new macroalgae projects I’m working on.

UNS 16C (1 gallon)

UNS 60S (10 gallons)

 

[Tigahboy]

A few shots I took last night.

 

[Tigahboy]

Just a few FTSs:

The UNS 45A after a bad haircut (ended up with some bald spots).

The UNS 60S recently aquascaped (going for a valley/snaking river scape). Just sitting here waiting for the cycle now.

The UNS 16C still empty.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I. LOVE. THIS!

This is going to be our Reef Of The Day tomorrow!

 

[Tigahboy]

I. LOVE. THIS!

This is going to be our Reef Of The Day tomorrow!

Wow! Thank you!

 

[BeltedCoyote]

Holy cow man, I’m so happy to see you’re back at it after following you on IG and seeing your posts about moving and having to take down your tanks! I’ve always wondered about macro tanks. I’m planning on having a display refugium with 20 or 30 lbs of live rock. Now I want to have a macro garden in there as well!

 

[Tigahboy]

Holy cow man, I’m so happy to see you’re back at it after following you on IG and seeing your posts about moving and having to take down your tanks! I’ve always wondered about macro tanks. I’m planning on having a display refugium with 20 or 30 lbs of live rock. Now I want to have a macro garden in there as well!

Couldn't stay away for too long. ;Cat

There are so many beautiful macroalgae to choose from. Looking forward to seeing your macro garden.

 

[mitten_reef]

Hey! I know you !

 

[Tigahboy]

Hey! I know you !

We seem to run into each other everywhere.

 

[samnaz]

Congrats on reef of the day! Very well deserved.