Growing Algae On Purpose

[Star_Rider]

in marine tank we use macro algae cheato or calupera
cheato is easier to grow.. it acts as a mechanical filter as well as being a nitrogen hog. and does not go sexual.
others have been using Zenia in their fuges to do the same. my Zenia didn't do so well as I have a bunch of macro algae and the nitrates were really low.

 

[Mgamer20o0]

plants do act as bio filtration. i wouldnt put it under a ugf that would clog it i would think.

Ajordan the idea that people tend to do is when tehy cant have plants in the main tank. they use a sump and toss fast growers in there to suck up the extra ferts in the water.

 

[red devil]

Thanks for the suggestions! Is there some kind of algae that will grow in a freshwater situation that has the properties of macro algae cheato? I guess what I am shooting at is to experiment with a variety of plants to see if I can come up with a natural "super filter" that will allow me to put a "normal" amount of fish in the tank. I have seen some aquariums that are almost naturally self filtering but there is such a small fish load in the tank that it almost makes it uninteresting (to me).