Best algae

[RonD]

Which would be considerd the best algae for consumption of nutrients as part of a reef system bar none.

[graveyardworm]

Cheatomorpha.

[RonD]

So all the rest is basically for color and decoration then ?

[3D-Reef]

For the least amount of work and worry,cheato does the best.
Any of the algae will help with nutrients,it's just that the cheato is alot less work.:)

[graveyardworm]

IMO caulerpa grows faster and probably takes up nutrients faster than cheato, but with all the headaches associated with caulerpa it probably isnt the best algae for most people.

[3D-Reef]

Graveyard is right!

[kimboslice]

what are the problems with calurpra besides going asexual?? and what exactly does asexual mean that it overgrows the entire tank??

[graveyardworm]

When caulerpa "goes sexual" It basically dies and dissolves rapidly, causing a nutrient spike, cloudy water, and alo realeases its toxin caulerpenyne. All that together is usually not very good for tank inhabitants. Ensuring adequate nutrients are available is usually all it takes to keep it growing and healthy. Carbon use with caulerpa is recommended due to the toxin it releases.

[cbreps]

david, i had a bunch of grape caulerpa begin to "go sexual" saturday nite. it was changing appearance and i jumped on here to find out what was happening i ended up pulling all of it out when i read on the post that the grape stuff is one of the most volatile. my goal is to have some algae in this tank so my question is, how dangerous are the other caulerpa species? i have the suction cup stuff in there, along with feather algae, tiny fuzzy bottle brush algae, and prolifera. (sorry for not giving the latin names). john

[graveyardworm]

I cant say if one may be more apt to sporulate than another. I am currently keeping a few types of caulerpa, but I feed heavily and supplement various nutrients to keep the plants happy. They are nitrate vacuums, and I need to stay on top of it always.

i had a bunch of grape caulerpa begin to "go sexual" saturday nite

Have you tested any parameters?

[RonD]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9397478#post9397478 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by graveyardworm
supplement various nutrients to keep the plants happy.

What are you adding supplement wise ?

[graveyardworm]

I've been maintaining 3 - 5 ppm nitrates by dosing a KNO3 solution mixed per the instructions in this (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=760973) thread. I have over 300g capacity, it takes about 3 tblspoons to raise my NO3 by .5ppm. I add this 2-3 times per week.

I also dose iron at well below the dosing instructions on the bottle. 5ml 2-3 times per week. (Instructions on the bottle would be 5ml per day). Even when I was dosing the recommended amount it never showed on my test kit. I didnt have any problems with that amount, I cut back the dosing and still everything is the same so for now its good.

5ml Iodine a couple times per week, I cant say if anything is recieving any benefit from this so when it runs out I may discontinue.

More recently I've begun dosing silicates in an attempt to get my diatoms back and hopefully outcompete cyano which seems to be becoming more prevelant.

I also have a couple suncorals which I feed almost every night. So this also adds PO4, Ammonia/Nitrates, and probably other stuff as well. Although these are never detectable ( aside from NO3 ).

[cbreps]

david the last time i checked my nitrites were 0, ammonia,0 and nitrates were 40 (this is a new set up so it has come down from the 160ppm that it was a few weeks back), a day before my scheduled water change. the macros were all growing like crazy, i would say the grape algae probably had doubled or tripled in volume in the past 3 weeks. i have been dosing daily a two bottle supplement by kent called "nano reef part A and B" which has iron in it. i just have a HOB filter (which is made for a 70g tank). i use a couple hours of natural sunlight in the morning and a 36watt coralife 50/50 bulb. i have about 12lbs of live rock in there, and just a few animals (tiny goby, 3 pep shrimp,2sm astreas, 1sm tonga conch, 3 tiny hermits and 5 nassirius snails). there are also a ton of almost microscopic creatures on the glass that look like starfish center body and 5 legs. what the heck are those? i am also noticing alot of pink and purple algae begining to grow. john

[graveyardworm]

there are also a ton of almost microscopic creatures on the glass that look like starfish center body and 5 legs. what the heck are those?

Do they look anything like the ones on the glass around this snail? If so they are hydroids and they usually disappear as the tank matures.
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f326/graveyardworm/columbellidlayingeggs42-13-07.jpg

[cbreps]

yep, thats them, thanks!

[3D-Reef]

I know this is off topic...But is that snail laying an egg sac? Or is it just climbing over it?

[graveyardworm]

The snail is laying an egg capsule. I have photos start to finish.