Macroalgae salinity requirements

[BlueDSM]

Im new to this forum, I currently own a brackish tank with a puffer and 3 bumble bee gobies, and Im currently setting up my first marine tank after reading R.Fenners book.

My question is more related to the brackish tank (sorry of this is the wrong area). My LFS recently stocked some pretty neat looking macroalgae.

Can I acclimate marine macroalgae, like some from the Caulerpa, and maybe a brushy one (Penicillus I think) to live in brackish water with a salinity of 1.015? Im just curious, because Id like to ditch the plastic plants for live plants, and none of the FW ones live at that salinity.

Thanks for any help, sorry if this is a newb question.

 

[Len]

To be honest, I have no experience with this. I would guess 1.015 is okay (I've done hyposalinity down to 1.008) and macroalgae survived. However, this doesn't mean it won't have negative long-term consequences. Basically what I'm saying is it's probably okay, but don't quote me on it for the long-term

 

[taikonaut]

Your best bet is mangrove and eel grass, but they are not really 100% submergibles.

You maybe able to get away with Caulerpa in brackish water, and it is more likely to do better than the brushy, calcifing macroalgae.

 

[cdeakle]

What about chaeto? That stuff is pretty much bulletproof isn't it?

 

[John_Brandt]

Most marine macroalgaes in hyposalinity might be tricky. The pinnate Caulerpas are known to thrive in the vicinity of freshwater effluents. But expect them to be "leaky", possibly secreting more exudates (Caulerpin) than in seawater. This may not be a problem if you just keep a monoculture of Caulerpa. Try to find C. taxifolia or mexicana (but those are illegal in California). Try slowly acclimating it for a week to your brackish aquarium. Also try Ulva and Enteromorpha spp. for brackish water.

 

[taikonaut]

>... but those are illegal in California...

This is one of the reason I never let anyone see my setup in past few years....

 

[DOGMAI]

I have a five gallon tank set up with just macro growing in it. I have not added salt to that tank in about a year. I just top it off a lot. The salt creep is ridiculous so I know the salinity has to be low. I will check it at lunch time and let you know where it is at. That tank is growing three different kinds of algae in it along with two types of snails, bristle worms polyps and a but load of pods. I also never ever feed that tank at all. Kinda amazed that it is thriving.

Are you really that worried about owning illegal macro algae? If fish and game comes into your house because you have illegal algae your luck sucks. Ferrets are illegal in California too, but I own one and so do thousands of others.

Thanks,
Shane

 

[taikonaut]

Seriously, I am not worried since they understand that if you have a bad Caulerpa *problem* it will take quite some time to get rid of it unless you add bleach to your setup.

>... Kinda amazed that it is thriving...

Obviously, what ever you do/don't do, it is what it takes to run the mini ecosystem.

 

[John_Brandt]

Are you really that worried about owning illegal macro algae? If fish and game comes into your house because you have illegal algae your luck sucks.

Shane, my point was that those Caulerpas are illegal to import and sell in California.

While we are on the topic... NEVER put Caulerpa (or any algae) from your aquarium into any natural waterway (marine, brackish or freshwater) in coastal areas. The same is true when disposing of aquarium water.

 

[taikonaut]

>... The same is true when disposing of aquarium water....

What? Isn't this how Nemo got back to his Dad?

 

[DOGMAI]

Oh wow thanks for letting me know about where I should dump my water changes and extra algae. I used to drive 2 hours to the ocean just to do that I felt like I wanted to give my water and algae a second chance at life. While I am being a smart ass I am only doing it because of the way you told us to not do something. You could have said “you should never…” or something like that. You also said “natural waterways” I don’t know of an unnatural waterway.

Thank you,
Now irritated

 

[cdeakle]

What? Isn't this how Nemo got back to his Dad?

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[John_Brandt]

DOGMAI,

I certainly didn't mean to offend you. But I will not apologize for my way of expressing the gravity of the situation.

Alien and introduced species are become a nightmare in North America. I attended several seminars last week in Hawaii on this subject and the week before in Washington, DC. State governments are going to systematically pass laws to prevent this stuff from happening. Americans may very well lose certain rights in the process. Snakeheads are now illegal in Maryland. Pirahnas and others have been illegal in Florida. Some Caulerpas are illegal in California.

Volitan lionfish (including juveniles) have been found along the east coast of the US from Florida to New York. Almost 20 species of Indo-Pacific marine ornamental fishes have been found in South Florida coastal waters. It would be tragic if states outlawed marine aquariumkeeping because of a reaction to this reality. This could happen even if hobbyists weren't responsible for causing it.

People like Marshall Meyers (PIJAC), myself and others will try to work with governments to prevent this. But a casual approach to the issue by hobbyists and the trade might be very dangerous.

My use of the term natural waterways was to make a distinction from things like landlocked bodies of freshwater such as ponds or lakes. Although I doubt that Caulerpa could make it from there to the ocean, it's probably not a good idea to dump the algae (or any organism) in any body of water.

 

[Anonymous]

You know, I always used to get annoyed by the incessant chatter from certain people in the hobby (I don't mean here, or even a person in general. I just mean this type) about never let fish go, never repatriate fish, never pollute your ecosystem, ec ... to me it seemed so obvious, so simple ... take this one precaution to make sure you don't trash your local ecosystem. But time and time again, I learned that people are surprised to find out how destructive it can be. Huh?

It got to be so much, it was like the warning on a pack of cigarettes. Everyone under the sun knows smoking is uber bad for you, the warning doesn't help though, people still smoke. WTF?

Who is out there dumping fish into the ocean. Did they acclimate them first? Don't they ever read anything about this hobby?

 

[John_Brandt]

It's not clear where the alien marine ornamental fish that I mentioned came from. They probably originated from the aquarium trade, but hobbyists aren't necessarily the ones who are responsible. There is some speculation that the lionfish were placed there by the recreational diving industry. Some have speculated ship ballast water, but that seems rather unlikely.

If you use your imagination you can come up with a list of reasons why some people might intentionally release these fish.

I forgot to mention Hawaii which has a large number of alien species, including invertebrates like Discosoma mushrooms. These introductions are illegal in the State of Hawaii, and it was reported that a prosecution of the "mushroom planter" is pending.