marine planted aquarium

[simple]

I'm planning on setting up an aquarium with live rock marine plants and maybe some fish. I have never kept marine plants other than chaeto in my fuge so i wanted to know, what are some hardy beginner marine plants, that are aesthetic as well as easy to care for. They also have to be non invasive and not turn against me like caulerpa does. I want the as a biological way of removing nitrates as well. Any suggestions?
Thanks

 

[SnowManSnow]

hmmm lots of macro algae is cool.. but i don't know the names!

a lot of ppl set up sea horse tanks with that kinda planted tank.

gl

b

 

[Anonymous]

A lot? No, just the cool ones!

There are few marine plants available for the hobby. Seagrasses, mangroves are all I see. But, really, aren't roots over rated? I believe there are around 9000 species of algae in the world, but only a few are offered to us!

You've mentioned the Chaetomrpha are ther are a few of them available. The Caulerpa genus also has a few species we can get. But, the ultra cool are found as hitch hikers on corals. I have had to buy corals at our local fish stores to get some of my species!

Here's a few of mine:

 

[simple]

I've been told to stay away from caulerpa though, because it can become sexual. Is this true?

 

[Anonymous]

I think in a display tank, it gives you some warning. I can see a frond turn clearish and then fix the nutrient deficiency before the whole colony turns. But, I do keep my "canary in the mine" warning Caulerpas in smaller colonies.

I have to test for iron, because my macros suck it up quickly. I find I need to add it freq to prevent sporing.

 

[simple]

do you have any suggestions for plants that wont go sexual on me? besides chaeto.. I mainly want it as a source of nitrate removal. Looks are imprtant too, but I'm mainly interested in their ability to remove nitrates. I will add some mangroves to my fuge, but i would like to have some in my main display.

 

[Anonymous]

Mangroves grow painfully slow....I had one in my display for a while, I wanted those knarly roots. I gave up after a year or so. The trunk got covered in coraline and other nuisance algae.

I think the only genus that does go sexual is Caulerpa, at least in my experience. Of course, any algae will die off if it does not have nutrients. Even Halimeda.

I believe any alga will remove nitrates, also.

This could be a Halymenia spp. Grows really fast.

 

[brandonberry]

Sargassum can be cool if you have enough light. I live at the coast. Send me a PM and maybe I could mail you some cool stuff. I've tryed several of our native seaweeds and know what will live in a tank.

 

[brandonberry]

Oh, I just saw that you live at the coast too. I've tryed a lot of stuff from Florida as well. There are some really neat Caulerpas down there that don't tend to grow as invassively as many of the varieties commonly found in the hobby. Also, I like the shaving brushes and green fan macros that you find, but they tend to be a little hard to keep. If you could dig enough mud up with them, they may be easier.

 

[simple]

yea today i went to look for stuff for my fuge but since it was raining like crazy i didnt actually go in the water, though i did get one plant though i havent quite figured out what it is. I also got food for my octopus that comes on Tuesday =D I will try again tomorrow and hopefully there is no rain.

 

[Anonymous]

I've just gently planted them into the substrate. I know they are not big fans of transplanting. Every time I've down it, the leaves fall off. But, they do grow back....really slowly.

You have access to really cool seagrasses?

 

[simple]

yes i do, im planning on getting some seagrass tomorrow. Ill just go snorkel a bit today and look for some cool stuff. Hopefully i dont get anything that turns out to be invasive...