I've always had macroalgae in my marine tanks up until very recently. I have two well-established marine tanks right now, a reef nano and an anemone/urchin nano. The reef had flourishing Caulerpa prolifera for years until the fauna shifted this summer and coralline outcompeted it rather fast. I salvaged a few scraps of the prolifera and tried to protect them in a breeder box-like container in my urchin tank while I figured something out...well, that little container is now known as "the snack box," and I find myself without macroalgae for the first time in about 20 years. When my husband heard my darth-vader-like "noooooooooo" at finding the last of my macroalgae consumed, he said "guess you'll have to set up a seaweed tank then" and then when I saw 10g tanks were half off, he said "get two" lol.
So here we go. This is going to be a properly new venture for me in marine tanks since I've decided I'm not just going to do the same old same old I've always done of just using macro for nutrient export in a different type of tank. This time I'm going full planted marine tank mode and try to make this like a coastal tide pool. I've got a horticultural LED and reused a spare heat lamp stand to have it hang over the tank. If the particular bulb doesn't blast enough, I can easily step up to a more powerful one within the same fixture. This build is particularly exciting for me because it's my first new tank in over a decade.
I'm going to try my hand at cutting my own acrylic top/lid this weekend. The power strip will be going elsewhere to free up the lower shelf. Not sure yet what I will put on that shelf; it's meant as a double-decker for aquariums. I can either put the 2nd 10gal there with a more standard LED strip (I have plenty of spares), or I have two ancient Fluval Spec III tanks sitting on a shelf that would fit side by side. Or I could have a Fluval Spec on one side and my phytoplankton culturing operation on the other so I don't have glowing green bottles on my windowsil creeping out anyone who pulls up my driveway. For now though, time to mix up some more saltwater, get this tank filled, and source some new macroalgae species.
So here we go. This is going to be a properly new venture for me in marine tanks since I've decided I'm not just going to do the same old same old I've always done of just using macro for nutrient export in a different type of tank. This time I'm going full planted marine tank mode and try to make this like a coastal tide pool. I've got a horticultural LED and reused a spare heat lamp stand to have it hang over the tank. If the particular bulb doesn't blast enough, I can easily step up to a more powerful one within the same fixture. This build is particularly exciting for me because it's my first new tank in over a decade.
I'm going to try my hand at cutting my own acrylic top/lid this weekend. The power strip will be going elsewhere to free up the lower shelf. Not sure yet what I will put on that shelf; it's meant as a double-decker for aquariums. I can either put the 2nd 10gal there with a more standard LED strip (I have plenty of spares), or I have two ancient Fluval Spec III tanks sitting on a shelf that would fit side by side. Or I could have a Fluval Spec on one side and my phytoplankton culturing operation on the other so I don't have glowing green bottles on my windowsil creeping out anyone who pulls up my driveway. For now though, time to mix up some more saltwater, get this tank filled, and source some new macroalgae species.
