Macro in Main Tank?

[Samhain]

I'm thinking of trying to maintain some macros in my main tank (mainly halimeda and pencil cap) for aquascaping, hiding spots, and nitrate consumption. Does anyone have experience with this? Any recommendations?

I don't currently have a refugium, although I am planning on setting one up in the future. All things in time (and when the finances allow...).

 

[AmberSunrise]

This site is excellent for information. I just ordered a bunch from them yesterday. They give great descriptions of what wattage the plants need, how they grow etc and the prices are great.

ReefCleaners.org | Clean Up Crews and Macro Algae - Plants/Macroalgae

 

[Samhain]

That's actually where I was planning on getting my macro, at the same time that I get my CUC. I was just wondering if anyone had any hand's on experience, and would be able to provide tips or recommendations on keeping it in the main tank. Or if it's a neat idea in theory (like anemones), but not so wonderful in practice. Or if my intended fish (firefish, ocellaris, coral beauty, yasha shrimp goby) or my inverts (emerald crabs, porcelain crabs, ceriths, nerites, cleaner shrimp) will eat it all up.

 

[Zissou]

Halimeda is very calcium dependent from what I understand. Something to consider if you are keeping corals.

 

[little_fish]

You are right, the halimeda will suck up your calcium so i would avoid it for that reason. I would also avoid any cauplear (sp?) species. They can go sexual, which means they basically dissolve and cause HUGE water quality issues. But other than go wild, there are many beautiful macros out there.

 

[Samhain]

Excellent! That's precisely the sort of info I was looking for. I'm not getting a tang, so hopefully the macros aren't lunch for everything in the tank.

 

[AmberSunrise]

I just got my order and put everything in my tank. Some of the plants were much smaller than I expected while others where HUGE! Read each description closely so you know what to expect.

I have regularly put different macros in my reef tank because my decorator crab loves to make outfits and my urchin also loves using it for hats so I cant keep it in there.

 

[irensing]

definately avoid caulerpa prolifera. I think little fish meant caulerpa in general which is probably a good idea.

 

[little_fish]

I did, i could not remember how to spell that for the life of me

 

[irensing]

yea I can't store that one in my brain, i always have to google it

 

[Sir Alex]

Halimeda is very calcium dependent from what I understand. Something to consider if you are keeping corals.

Will dosing be able to keep the calcium up? I was hoping to keep some in my display fuge.

 

[Zissou]

Well, you don't want to dose anything you don't test for. If you decide to put some halimeda in your fuge and are worried about your corals, you'll just have to keep an eye on the calcium levels and start testing. Depending on the size of your tank and corals, weekly water changes might be more than enough to maintain them.

 

[little_fish]

+1 Zissou

 

[Sir Alex]

Well, you don't want to dose anything you don't test for. If you decide to put some halimeda in your fuge and are worried about your corals, you'll just have to keep an eye on the calcium levels and start testing. Depending on the size of your tank and corals, weekly water changes might be more than enough to maintain them.

I was hoping I could get away with bi-weekly...

 

[little_fish]

You probably can, just do your tests and that will help indicate how often you need to do a water change.

 

[Samhain]

Thanks for all the excellent info. Sounds like Pencil Cap is in the same category as the halimeda. Both are calcified, which I thought would help make sure the fish and inverts don't eat it all up, but it sounds like they might be more work in the end. Either way, if I'm keeping corals, I'm going to be testing Ca+ levels. So it might end up being ok, but I may start with something like sea lettuce and/or oat grass and see how that does. If it gets eaten, I'll just chock it up to a tasty treat for the critters! Neither is expensive, so it's not like I'll be losing a major financial investment.