macroalgae and cycling

[Manny]

Hey,

I'm in the middle of the cycle for my new tank. I decided to add a 20g side-mounted, gravity-fed "refugium" to my system.

My question is... would adding macroalgae like cheato and caulerpa be beneficial at this stage of the tank or would be a bad idea?

-manny

 

[Deanos]

The macroalgae will die off if there isn't sufficient nutrients in the water column.

 

[dylanjs]

The live rock I bought came with a lot of feather caulerpa growing on it. I have never seen a tank cycle so fast. I'm not 100% sure, but I think that it helped a lot.

 

[ming]

I would say it helps because it will have additional surface area. Kinda like bio-balls so it has more room for bacteria to grow and break down the NH4 to NO2 to NO3. And then the macro algae itself absorbs some NH4 and NO3

EDIT: I would also be wary of an green water algae bloom if there is substantially more nutrients then the algae can handle. And the above advice is only for a refugium because you dont generally want the show tank to grow algae everywhere, they can get quite invasive...

 

[Manny]

Thanks for the input
I have a small handful of cheato resting on the ssb right now. I gonna go look for some caulerpa later to drop it in. I will end up doing a 18-20hr photoperiod once all my livestock is in, but for now while I finish the cycle I'll give them 8-10hrs.

The live rock I bought came with a lot of feather caulerpa growing on it.

:biglaugh:... your tank thread made me want to go with a sidemounted system as opposed to the behind the tank cheato refugium I was going to do in the first place. I like the look:biggrin:

 

[cali_reef]

I think the bacteria on the macro algae will help in seeding the tank during the cycling phase, the algae may die off due to the lack of food source in the new water shortly after.

Don't put any caulerpa in your display tank, you will be busy plucking them if they start to grow.

 

[Manny]

I think the bacteria on the macro algae will help in seeding the tank during the cycling phase, the algae may die off due to the lack of food source in the new water shortly after.

Don't put any caulerpa in your display tank, you will be busy plucking them if they start to grow.

I was planning on feeding my tangs a fresh treat every time I have to trim it. Should I not:Yikes:? The overflow from the 20 goes through a filter sock and two skimmers before being returned to the main display. Hopefully stoping some sh*t if it decides to go sexual:letitallo.

 

[Manny]

cali_reef, that controller is freakin AWESOME btw.... thanks :teeth:

 

[digitalreefer]

I will end up doing a 18-20hr photoperiod once all my livestock is in

:bigeyes2: You should probably reconsider that. Phases of photosynthesis that occur at night need to take place for your corals to grow. In addition, the tank will be algae-riffic with that much light!

 

[Manny]

:bigeyes2: You should probably reconsider that. Phases of photosynthesis that occur at night need to take place for your corals to grow. In addition, the tank will be algae-riffic with that much light!

The main display will have a normal photoperiod, the refugium will be lit 18-20hrs. The 4-6hrs with no light will be my window for dosing while ph drops a bit.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

I would say it helps because it will have additional surface area. Kinda like bio-balls so it has more room for bacteria to grow and break down the NH4 to NO2 to NO3. And then the macro algae itself absorbs some NH4 and NO3

EDIT: I would also be wary of an green water algae bloom if there is substantially more nutrients then the algae can handle. And the above advice is only for a refugium because you dont generally want the show tank to grow algae everywhere, they can get quite invasive...

AGREED and I SPEED CYCLE(not suitable for everyone though) a lot of my tanks this way. As a reminder, this trick applies only with refugium. The macro algae usually would have enough nutrients from the die off of the display tank to stay alive if you light up your refuguim 24/7.