Anyone out there knowledgable on Macro algea?

U

unwired

New Member
Hi,

I recently acquired a bunch of macro and was curious about that I was told. A fellow sold me some Chaeto and Grape Calupera. He told me that he generally keeps them in separate plastic tubs (fuges) as they seem to be able to sense each others presence and don't grow as fast.

Can anyone say if this is indeed the case?

I've only had the Marco in my fuge for about a week now and seen very little growth from either of the algeas. Having siad this, my tank load is still very small and I've yet to throw in a lot of fish into the display tank (mostly cleaner crew right now). My fuge is a simple 10 Gallon Tank with a divider big enough to fit my pump and a deep sand bed on the other side with the two types of macro sitting in there.

I guess my main reason for asking questions is to try and figure out what tests I should be running on the tank. If the Macro is supposed to suck up the nitrates (and there's almost non right now) then I'm not sure it's really worth looking at daily unless something goes crazy. I hvae an in tank ammonia sensor from seachem that should be good for a year. Salinity and PH seem fine too. Should I be doing Nitrite tests?

I plan on putting corals in eventually but I think it's too early to think about Calcium, CO2 or phosphate levels.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.
 
K

KidNano

New Member
One of my LFS' keeps both kinds of Macro in all of his sumps. I got a small cup from him of what I was hoping was Chaeto only however it seems as though some Grape Caulerpa got in there as well. It's been about two months now and there is just as much Caulerpa as the Cheato. They seem to do very well together and are completely intertwined. Other then that I know nothing. don't expect to see growth so quickly. I was looking for growth when I first put it in and didn't really notice it untill about month after I put it in. If your checking it out everyday you won't notice it. Give it another couple of weeks and then go back and check it out.

what kind of light do you have over it? I've heard they like a warmer spectrum. Light and flow are important factors for growth. there are some people that like enough flow that the macro is actually tumbling in the sump. It allows more exposure to light for all parts and ensures the water is flowing through it.

post a pic of your sump.
 
U

unwired

New Member
Fuge/Macro photo

The picture is 9 days old:


The sump is on a reverse lighting cycle so I'd need to wait till nightfall to snap new shots. I'm actually very happy with the PC light. It also runs very cool to the touch which is important since it sits near my legs under the desk. (Galaxy II from Dr Fosters).

To be clear, the Calupera is certainly growing. I saw a lot of small white grape balls and had started to worry that perhaps it was dying on me. After doing some reading I found out that this is how it grows and that a few hours after the lights are on it turns green like the rest of the balls. Anyhow, it certainly IS growing somewhat since I can see a good number of new grapes daily. I am getting a bit concerned about it though since I've read that it's pretty aggressive and can eat its way into plastic. I have my heater in there and am thinking about relocating it somewhere else.

Now that I think about it, my chaeto likely grew too since I don't think it would fit into the ziplock it came in anymore. I'm nowhere near needing to prune yet but it is interesting to watch.

For the first few days everything looked still in the tank now I can see a bunch of little guys running around. Small white things, perhaps something similar to brine shrimp.

Right now I'm going to keep the flow in there as -is, but it was interesting to hear what you said. Everyone seems to have their own unique approach. The guy I bought it from had multiple rubbermaid containers under his tank with nothing more than drip likes into the various fuges. I have no clue how long the bunches had been growing there but the chaeto was packed full. His calupera was much more sparce and he gave me nearly all of it. Either it grows back quick enough for him or he wanted to get rid of it.

I've been reading a bit about this 'going sexual' thing with the grapes but I haven't really found anything conclusive. Apparently, if the calurepa dies it releases all of its nutrients (toxins really) back into the water stream, which could easily spell disaster in a nano. For now its interesting to watch and I've yet to get any fish so I'm relatively safe. (Just have a cleaner crew and a serpent starfish).
 
K

KidNano

New Member
Yeah it still amazes me that you can't get definitive answers on anything. Everything depends on something else. And since everyone has different setups and preferences it's impossible.

If your worried about the caulerpa going sexual on you.... I've heard you can run the lights 24 hours and for some reason that will keep it from releasing it's toxins. I guess it releases during it's rest period.

I've gone with the tumble method in my sump. It's doing great. I guess the theory behind that is all the little critters are better off in your main display. since we need large clean up crews anyway in the main display there's almost no sense in having two sections for them. I don't know... If I can find the link about the tumbling theory I'll post it here for your reference.

Hopefully someone that knows more will chime in.
 
T

The Kapenta Kid

New Member
KidNano said:
Yeah it still amazes me that you can't get definitive answers on anything.
Click to expand...
Well I guess it ain't an exact science so the 2+2=4 or E=MC^2 stuff is not applicable :D
Which makes it kinda interesting in that any personal observation that you make can be a useful data point for advancing overall understanding.
 
U

unwired

New Member
So night falls on my reef and I'm able to grab the the camera out again.
It's so cool to have a digital camera handy. I wish I had one for my
marine tanks years ago. Anyhow, I think you can tell for yourself about
the growth. Personally, I didn't realize it until I compared the photos.
Scroll up to see the last one taken 9 days ago then look at this one.



My 10G tank is not really deep enough to consider 'rolling' chaeto. I'd end
up churning too much sand. What I could think about is adding another
plexi divider and moving the sand into the middle only and then rolling
the chaeto thru the intake pipe. IN any case, testing the 'flow theory'
shouldn't be all that difficult.


Here's a close-up photo of those new Calupera grapes:


To be honest, I'm pretty impressed with the little PC light's full spectrum output. I think it's only 18W. I bought another 6500K bulb from Target for like $5.00
but I'll keep it on the shelf until I need it. I would have mounted it over the tank but the drawer from my printer hangs real low and I'd be afraid
of overheating it or causing a fire somehow.
 
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