Tank Macro Pics

[DrBCP]

Thought I would post some close up pics of the less common Macros growing in my tank. All of these grew from Florida Live Rock put in my tank nearly a year ago. I like keeping a tank with lots of plants along with corals. Some definitely require more hands on pruning than others.

[DrBCP]

Great, it didn't work! Guess I'll have to post one at a time.

[DrBCP]

Ok, Reef Central tells me the max pic size is 51kb. Give me a break, you can't see anything at that res.

Sorry everyone, I wish I could erase this thread.

Brian

[grim]

Don't know what it is, I'm assuming it's rare only because nobody can ID it for me...

http://www.jamesbednar.com/redalgae1.jpg

And from another angle..

http://www.jamesbednar.com/redalgae2.jpg

-jb

[DrBCP]

Ok, it's a new day and I feel as though I've become an expert in how to take 5MB pics down to 51kb using photoshop, and still be able to see something.

So lets try this again.

[DrBCP]

Another.

[DrBCP]

And another

[DrBCP]

And lastly

[DrBCP]

A couple didn't make it.

[DrBCP]

Hopefully the last one.

[Duce]

DrBCP...
Cool Pics...Do you have a pic of your entire tank?
I only which I have that many cool looking macros in my tank.

[DrBCP]

Here's a tank pic. Sorry for the low quality, but I don't have any pics up on my web page yet.

Unfortunately I don't have room for a refugium below as it's only a 54g corner. I like to have slow growing plants, like those I posted, in my tank almost as much as corals. I just like the look of a tank with more than just corals and rock.

[Duce]

Don't know if you are planning to put more corals in that tank...but I think it will look really, really cool with some nice color softies or LPS...
When I looked at the pic for some reason a mountain with patches of forest pop up in my head.

[Evergreen]

Grim- Looks like a Fucus to me (could very well be wrong tho)

DrBCP awesome tank! Its really natural and still colorful. Nice work!

[DrBCP]

I appreciate the comments.

I wish I had room for more corals. It already 9 brains, 1 large spaghetti leather, 2 finger leathers, 1 devils hand, 2 colonies of button polyps, 3 colonies of star xenia, 1 plate, pulsing pom pom xenia that's out of control, 2 gorgonians and 1 LPS that I can't figure out what it is.

Unfortunately I will be moving in a few months so I haven't added anything to the tank this year.

Brian

[Evergreen]

You should ask "Billsreef" he REALLY knows his algae

[x9typesh]

Hi i have some weird macroalgae like you too...specifically the red stuff in your post5 and that stuff in post6. do you kno if they're good for your tank? it does look nice but that red stuff is attaching itself to all my other rocks and it's becoming like an epidemic so i threw the rock with the most of the red stuff in the sump and yanked off the rest of it on the other rocks. if you find out anything let me kno...thanks.

jon

[DrBCP]

I actually haven't taken the time to find out what half of these macros are and if they are bad or not.

The red stuff and the light green 'seaweed' you mentioned doesn't grow that fast in my tank. Maybe a couple inches every month. Both are in contact with several corals in my tank (xenia, plate, 2 leathers and a couple brains) and I don't see any ill effects, unitil they start blocking too much light. The red stuff must be different than what you have. In my tank this stuff doesn't attach to anything. It's kind of like tumbleweed and often floats around in the tank.

Brian

[SubmarinR]

DrBCP
the algae in your post4 image.. you have an ID on that one?
I have that one too.. very nice.. very delicate.. doesn't seem to like lower salinity levels.. has died off almost completely after a sudden drop in salinity once and then again for no apparent reason whatsoever.. now slowly growing back thank goodness..

My original plan was to actually grow a "plants" only marine tank but have "bent" the rules somewhat and succumbed to the desire to add corals... softies mostly

:-)P

joe anderson, Oklahoma - new to reef, generally keep planted FW now both!

[DrBCP]

I finally got a web page of my tank up with some better pics. It's my first ever web page, so don't expect anything fancy. :D

My Tank Web Site (http://home.attbi.com/~bcp2823/)

I started another thread hoping some fellow reefers will help me with plant/macro identification. Most of the pics are the same ones I've already posted, just of a little better quality.

Plant/Macro ID thread (http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=189738)

BillsReef has already helped me with Codium (pics 2 and 4 under the plant/macro section of the web page. Codiuim is a great macro. It doesn't root itself into rocks or corals, pods love the stuff, and it has a nice steady growth.

SubMarinR, the post4 pic is a great macroalgae. I've had the stuff for a year and it's only doubled or tripled in size. It tends to also grow in spurts. I wish I new what it is?

Brian

[ctreefer]

joe/submarinr,

I've got that macro as well and was just browsing the forums to
see if anyone knew how to get rid of it. Its become very invasive in my tank overgrowing corals and is very hard to remove. I haven't found any natural means of removing it but might give a shot to lowering the salinity. Mines upwards of 1.025 now. It does look nice, but be wary. I'm going to continue to search and see if I come up with an ID. Awhile ago I was under the assumption it had a common name of feather algae, but now I'm not too sure.

vince

[SubmarinR]

CT,
thanks for the heads up on this one...
i have it "re-growing" near some fast growing star polyps that i am using to overcome areas w/ hair algae and/or bryopsis speciies..
Since, it is just now beginning to regrow i havn't been able to see how quickly it can overcome a coral yet.
I have also found a possible identification for it in the Littler book (ISBN 0-87474-607-8) pg 38 Caulerpa verticillata. Its hard to tell from the picture since it is oriented from above, but the description states that it is "fuzzy, felty turfs or mats" and that seems consistent with what i have..
Maybe Tom Barr can make a further comment on this possibility.. I wish I could take a good picture of it.. but since i have only a small amount it is difficult to get a good shot of it right now..

I have included another picture of an interesting red macro that grew on some rock that i'd purchased for the purple tunicates on it... there were originally three "leaves" but my neon wrasse (H. garnoti) had to sample (everything) the first two before deciding thankfully, that he didn't like the taste.

Anyone know what this one is?

Joe Anderson, OKC

[Finious]

Nice tank...well done.

[Plantbrain]

The red macro is a Laurencia.
The Codium is definitely a Codium, "Dead man's fingers".
I collect macro's from the Florida Keys 2-3x a year.
There are some very nice reds and other macro's here but many don't make the shipping.
The smaller green with whorls is Batophora.
The brown is Dictyota. I can guess the spcies but I like to see the plants in person for that.
These are all common from the Keys. Codium seems to be found in deeper water where I collect. The others can be found right off the road in 1 meter or less of water.

I'm about a month or two away from having my marine planted tank the way I want. Then I'll take photo's:-)

When you coming down here Joe?

Regards,
Tom Barr

Got plants?

[SubmarinR]

Tom,
so the red i have is a Laurencia? cool!.. its not in the Littler book. I'll have to break down and buy that other book you'd mentioned previously...
and thanks for the id on the whorly one too... now i can do more research on it.

With all your recent emails/posts about how easy it is to find things down there, i may just have to plan on a trip one day soon.. I've got a trip sched already in June to Dallas then the AGA in Nov (?) so don't know if the spousal unit would go for it.. have to find a nice resort to hit around the anniversary date that could work into a collecting trip too ;-)
hows the collecting in November there?
I'd love to pull out some codium and turbinaria (if thats avail this far North) found some in Cancun last year -loose, but my goby made quick work of it.. must be pretty tasty stuff!

As for plants.. i have been neglecting my FW set up for some time now and just got some H. salic... (sp?) -the long thin leaves, growing and im trying to get some other stuff to perk back up.. i'm hosting our club's next meeting and the topic is on design and aquascaping. So, i'd better have something to show them! ;-)P

anyway, thanks again for the info.. and i'll be checking the resorts in that area to see what i can weasel my way into!

Joe

[DrBCP]

PlantBrian,

Great. Someone who knows their plants. So if you number the following pics from the top left across as 1, 2...etc, your saying;
Plant/Algae pics (http://home.attbi.com/~bcp2823/Plants_Macros.htm)

#5 is Batophora and #6 is Dictyota (the one I thought was Sargassum)

Also, are you refering to Joe's pic as Laurencia?

The Red in pic #12 is beginning to be a problem in my tank. It is spawning little one's all over the tank, especially on the Codium. It is able to reproduce across the tank through the water.

Thanks for your help.

Brian

[DrBCP]

SubmarinR,

I'm not familiar with the Codium population in the Keys, but if you want it by the truckload, and you are a diver, it is everywhere off the coast of Clearwater, FL. There are rock pile formations at 20 ft and again at 30 ft (maybe 10-20 miles out) and Codium is everwhere. I brought back 2 handfulls of codium last year from this area in the Gulf. It survived the plane flight beautifully. It was submerged in a bag of water for nearly 24 hrs before I put it in my tank with no problems. A lot of the LFS in that area sell it for tang and angel food.

Brian

[Plantbrain]

The Littler and Littler book should have the that alga genus in it.
It's the best Caribbean plant book I know of. Nice to have drawing and pic's both.
I have a couple of sources I bring to key things out and that's one of them. I get it from the library whenever I need it but I'm not buying it, well maybe later when I get a real job. It ain't cheap.

No, I was not referring to Joe's as that species.

Yea, some of the reds can be pesky, but some picking and scrubbing might be needed. Some species are bad but generally most of the reds here are nice.
Regular maintenance is just par for the course as long as it's not weekly etc. I don't mind a good cleaning and picking once a month or so.
But I have a differnt approach to aquascaping with plants than reef oriented folks. I don't use rocks much if at all. I use the plants to from the aquascape only right now. I only need to pick loose any that might infect other stands of algae/plants and wipe the glass. No corals/rock to worry over etc.

I'm threatening to add a piece of rock encrusted with C racemosa on it in one corner as I feel it would compliment the tank nicely. I moved the Pencillus around it's not bounced back yet and the SeaGrass needs to fill in a bit. Then the tank will be well balanced and look nicer.
Pencillus has a lot of potential for nice aquascapes IMO. Many of the reds from the Keys have good potential.

Joe, can you get a better close up of that red?
You should tell the other half this: "Dear, haven't you wanted to come to a beautiful tropical island, Shopping and clubbing/dancing in Maimi south beach, Disneyworld for the kids(and Adults) etc" There's something here that most folks can be bribed into. "Naw, I'd rather see some field of wheat and corn dear......" I just don't see the other half saying that. Should be an easy con. Not really a con as the other half will enjoy it also. Would they dislike snorkleing on a reef or seagrass bed or tidepooling? Unlikely.

Nov is an excellent time here. Get away from the cold up there. We always come here to collect for Turkey day weekend. Actually it's Conch and lobster day there. We spend most of the weekend here collecting and doing presses and counting how many species we get other horrid drugery:) I TA for for a class on Seaweeds at UF. Not a bad deal to get paid to do this. Hopefully tagging sturgeon this summer for work neat the Yellow river and the Suwanee. Not bad getting paid to fish for flatnoses:-)

Nov is a good time for reds and others. Spring seem better for nuisance algae, Acetabularia etc.
Each side of the island will have quite different habitat. Don't take fish or harm the reef in anyway, damn boats do enough damage.
Wet suit to avoid jelly stings is also wise. You can camp on the beach in Long Key which is a nice central location on the Keys.

Some nice species I have found:
Dictyosphaeria, Valonia, Neomeris is very pretty(attaches to crabs even, very nice line green tiny finger looking alga), Dasycladus, there are a few ball forming algae, like a Caldophora and some red ball forming species also,

Avrainvillea is a very under rated plant, grows well, feels velvety, if anyone finds or has A. asarifolia, let me know. These are very good subs for Udoteas. A number of Udoteas, Rhipocephalus is often glanced over as a Penicillus, Padina is present but not a lot from what I've seen, Champia is somewhat common is some locations, Heterosiphonia, Daysa's are very nice. I could not find these during the spring but they were all over in Nov. Trichogloea and Chondria also.
Jania, Amphiroa and Neogoniolithon are also present and very nice.
I'd like to get some of these when I gone back in July.

I wonder if the red plant Joe has is Flahaultia?

I'll be keeping coldwater when I head back to Ca in a year or so. There are so many nice cold water plants and inverts there. I think many of these plants are tough to ship though.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[ctreefer]

submarinr and DrBCp, I think I know what the post #4 is.
according to the algeabase website it appears to be
caulerpa verticillata. As I've said its growing like crazy
in my tank and very hard to trim since its so fragile and
frilly. My purple tang nibbles on it but its growing much
too fast for it to keep up with the growth. Just keep an eye
on it. At first it grew slowly as well, but somehow recently
it just took on a whole new life form even though my paremeters
haven't changed. Maybe my spectrum has changed too much
and it likes the yellow in my 6500k's.

vince

[DrBCP]

Thanks for the reply. I currently have on order a few books to help with algae/plant identification.

I'll definitely keep an eye on it. It's been a really slow grower since I first saw it a year ago. Right now it's competing with pulsing pom pom xenia for space and it's definitely not winning :)

Brian

[SubmarinR]

CT... what's this website you refer to?
and Brian what books are you ordering??

[ctreefer]

SubmarinR,
the site is algaebase.org It has over 650 images of
different algae species on file currently. Its a little confusing
at first to search since you're led to believe you have to
know the thing you're looking for by name. Just leave the
query form blank and do a search and it will start with
what it has on record.

Great for identification.

vince

[SubmarinR]

thanks for the link CT

btw.. i am fairly certain what i have is NOT the caulerpa you mention... i had researched that one previously as a suspect... but mine is more of a whorl than a leaf or pinnate, very delicate similarly, but i am not convinced it is the same thing as whats in my tank..
on another note.. Tom you'd asked for a better pic of the red leafy macro..
well, no better pic to be had, but how bout a better description?
:-)
it is "very" slimy to the touch.. my wrasse won't eat it.. altho he did tear the last big leaf off the rock this past week ... its back to the dealers tank for him!!
but i have it shoved in a rock crevice in the hopes that it will reattach (fingers crossed)..
it is very much like ulva, but red w/ blackish speckling and perforated edges (not quite torn)

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joe