Hi...during the startup of my tank on my 24G Nano Cube thread, I've tried to post my triumphs and tribulations. I also try to keep this place interesting if I can. Navarre is the only mod for this section and he works hard to get to almost every reply that he can. I try to support his work. So, here is a post that's a tough one.
In order to boost my filtration, denitrification and also add more area for coral frags, I bumped up my live rock by adding two pieces of precured from a local lfs. No problem with that. One piece was from the Marshall Islands and one piece, of interest, was from the Solomon Islands area (allegedly). Several weeks after adding it, I thought I saw a reddish area arising which I was bummed out about thinking it was recurrent cyanobacteria. Well, it wasn't and turned out to be a beautiful red macroalgae. Thought it would be great to have some extra nutrient export in the tank.
About a month ago, as I was staring at my tank, I thought that it looked a little larger. Since it was near my acan frag, I took a pic and compared several views. Here they are:
Initial acan frag pic:
Serial pic:
Pic take about 4 weeks ago:
I think you can see that it is advancing. I searched the internet to try and I.D. this macroalgae and couldn't come up with an I.D. Red macroalgae are in the class Rhodophyta. None fit the pic. The closest I could get was peysonnelia, but, I believe that is larger. This macro is small, leafy, soft, brushy and close cropped. Leaves are only about 1/8th to 1/4 inch wide (about 2-3mm). There are some light bluish accents.Here are some close ups:
I searched a website with the largest library of algaes and then contacted the professor who runs it after a 'major' reef website was unable to I.D. this macro either. I emailed photos and the professor actually rapidly replied. He told me he had forwarded the photos to his colleague who was interested in tropical algaes. Believe it or not..he was stumped and they asked me to mail them a specimen of the algae which I have done.
This macro has been slowly extending itself in the tank. The picture below I think most people will recognize (or not) as an astrea snail. I find this shot particularly ominous:
Although I have had good success with my nano tank which was started up after seeing Parker 313's tank, and with invaluable guidance from Navarre, I am not immune to the woes of keeping a marine tank. We bring the ocean into our homes and with it, it's denizens. I've read many posts here on the pain of losing a fond fish and I may now have an impending problem to deal with. This is why many times I caution people not to look at nano reefing as an option for the 'cheapest way to setup a marine tank'. The costs may quickly outpace a larger more stable tank.
Well, I entered nano reefing, so, I am dedicated to maintaining this one. My strategy is to find out what would be a 'natural predator' for the macro. To determine this, I need the I.D. and I am waiting for this from the profs. If the macro contains a naturally occurring toxin, that would be a major setback/problem. If not, I think that adding something into the that would eat it would be the way to go. Don't forget, a 24G tank has many restrictions on size of animals. Also, some herbivores/omnivores may also not be reefsafe and include the corals as food.
Options:
1) scrubbing the rock is out as it has already appeared in other parts of the tank
2) longspine or tuxedo urchin
3) other macro eating fish, which, most likely, I would have to 'borrow'
4) other invert that would eat it, but, at the risk of losing corals.
I'll repost when I have more info. SH
In order to boost my filtration, denitrification and also add more area for coral frags, I bumped up my live rock by adding two pieces of precured from a local lfs. No problem with that. One piece was from the Marshall Islands and one piece, of interest, was from the Solomon Islands area (allegedly). Several weeks after adding it, I thought I saw a reddish area arising which I was bummed out about thinking it was recurrent cyanobacteria. Well, it wasn't and turned out to be a beautiful red macroalgae. Thought it would be great to have some extra nutrient export in the tank.
About a month ago, as I was staring at my tank, I thought that it looked a little larger. Since it was near my acan frag, I took a pic and compared several views. Here they are:
Initial acan frag pic:
Serial pic:
Pic take about 4 weeks ago:
I think you can see that it is advancing. I searched the internet to try and I.D. this macroalgae and couldn't come up with an I.D. Red macroalgae are in the class Rhodophyta. None fit the pic. The closest I could get was peysonnelia, but, I believe that is larger. This macro is small, leafy, soft, brushy and close cropped. Leaves are only about 1/8th to 1/4 inch wide (about 2-3mm). There are some light bluish accents.Here are some close ups:
I searched a website with the largest library of algaes and then contacted the professor who runs it after a 'major' reef website was unable to I.D. this macro either. I emailed photos and the professor actually rapidly replied. He told me he had forwarded the photos to his colleague who was interested in tropical algaes. Believe it or not..he was stumped and they asked me to mail them a specimen of the algae which I have done.
This macro has been slowly extending itself in the tank. The picture below I think most people will recognize (or not) as an astrea snail. I find this shot particularly ominous:
Although I have had good success with my nano tank which was started up after seeing Parker 313's tank, and with invaluable guidance from Navarre, I am not immune to the woes of keeping a marine tank. We bring the ocean into our homes and with it, it's denizens. I've read many posts here on the pain of losing a fond fish and I may now have an impending problem to deal with. This is why many times I caution people not to look at nano reefing as an option for the 'cheapest way to setup a marine tank'. The costs may quickly outpace a larger more stable tank.
Well, I entered nano reefing, so, I am dedicated to maintaining this one. My strategy is to find out what would be a 'natural predator' for the macro. To determine this, I need the I.D. and I am waiting for this from the profs. If the macro contains a naturally occurring toxin, that would be a major setback/problem. If not, I think that adding something into the that would eat it would be the way to go. Don't forget, a 24G tank has many restrictions on size of animals. Also, some herbivores/omnivores may also not be reefsafe and include the corals as food.
Options:
1) scrubbing the rock is out as it has already appeared in other parts of the tank
2) longspine or tuxedo urchin
3) other macro eating fish, which, most likely, I would have to 'borrow'
4) other invert that would eat it, but, at the risk of losing corals.
I'll repost when I have more info. SH
).
If it hasnt returned then the macro algae probably doesnt taste very nice at all. Keep us updated on its progress (the urchin and the algae)
