Plants for Marine?

TKOS,
There are lots of good macroalgae for a reef tank, some of which grow quite well. I had some red sea grape (Botyrocladia) and gracilaria come in on live rock, and have sea lettuce (ulva) and spaghettii algae (Chaetomorpha) in the fuge. Also had grape caulerpa, but the hermits really loved it. I have attached an old pic of the tank, in a rather unpruned state.

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finding macroalgae

The best selection I've found is online at Inland Aquatics . They don't have photos of the plants, but you can google around and figure out who's who.
For a fuge or sump, I really like Chaetomorpha, which grows fast and sops up nutrients. Caulerpa species or Botyrocladia are my favorites for display tanks.
 
Speaking of macroaglae and plants, I have smoe that I got on a small piece of liverock I bought. I have no idea what it is but it looks cool and is growing quite rapidly.

Does anyone know what type it is? I have been trying to figure it out but can't seem to get an answer. I just want to know if it is ok to keep growing it or if it will turn out to be a nuisance in the future......

macroalgae2.jpg
 
Looks like Botyrocladia to me. Here's one of mine when it was a little sprout. There are several species, and yours does look a little different from mine. Where is the rock from? I think the reason they do well is that nothing likes to eat it. Another interesting fact is that they form spores fairly constantly, so you can expect the occasional new sprout.

botr01.jpg
 
Most marine aquarist use macro algae and hair algae for utility=> filtration in refugiums and these are often mono culure or maybe two species. Xenia can also work for utility removal.

Few folks have planted Marine tanks. Generally used for waste removal from reef tanks. Chaetomorpha is the weed of choice generally. Some folks have worked on making their "plant filter" look nice and actually become part of the display itself.

This is my goal. But I have no reef with it's waste products so I add PO4/NO3/traces/Ca etc once a week or so.

Amphiroa, Neogoniolithon and Lithophyllum look more liike coral to the untrained eye. There are some many plantsand macro's folks do not keep.
There are also many many cold water species folks don't keep either due to chiller cost.

Hopefully I'll get around to coming up with some daily uptake rates for Marine plants. I'll start with NO3 and try PO4 next and then Ca and NO3+PO4 together. Traces=====> last on the agenda:)

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
Hello there!

I'm Ferdie from Manila, Philippines. I'm new to this site and find it interesting and informative. Just a little backgrounder, I used to keep FW as a hobby. But when I finally visited local pet shop in our area with SW for keeps, I got interested. T4, I shift my 50 gallon FW to SW tank. And now, I'm on my 2nd week.

With regards to keeping algae just like shown on the pictures, how do I start getting this. Will they grow naturally on my aquarium? Currently, I only have corals, fish and a boracay sand (whitesand) plus of course my protein skimmer, my overhead filter and pump. Maybe your wondering why on my 2dn week I already have corals and fish. This is due to my proximity at Subic Bay's Beach. So My water is a real sea water. Just need your advise re inquiry.

Appreciate your help and comments.

Rgds...Ferdie
 
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