Lights and Marine plants (suggestions?)

[Electrobes]

Hey everyone I was curious to know what plants/macroaglae would be good to grow with about 2.8 watts of lighting in a 45 Gallon tall tank? I have started cycling my tank and recently semi blew up my single 65 watt set up. Now I am going to try another method of wiring with a ballast that will support two of these bulbs giving me about 2.8 watts of CF per gallon. I am not too sure about what to put in the tank fish wise, will have some live rock in there, possibly mixed in with some base rock (can base rock turn into live rock when mixed in with live rock?). I was thinking of having a couple of gobies for sand movement... and they're cute - But other than that I am not sure of what to have... maybe something that likes plants/algae that will grow in the tank (hopefully I can grow something with the givin light!). Thanks for your suggestions, much appreciated!!

 

[steve-s]

Most types will grow in that amount of light (it will also depend on nutrient) but you will need to be careful which you choose as many can be quite fast growing. Best to stick with ones that do not go sexual as well.

Halimeda, chaetomorpha and brush are a few good ones. Make sure you avoid true caulerpa species if possible. They are rather fast growing and can become a nuisance quickly. There is also the chance of sporing the tank if not trimmed regularly...

Cheers
Steve

 

[Electrobes]

what about live rock.. how much should I have, or should I have a mix of live rock and base rock.. is it possible to make base rock into live rock after time being with live rock??

 

[steve-s]

You can easily purchase a large amount of your total need (80% or so) as dead base rock and then seed it with LR later on. There are even some reasonable costs available for live base rock.

I always recommend as much rock as possible. It is a great source of natural denitrification and will help the overall health of the tank. If like me, you do not like DSB's, then the more rock the better 1½-2 lbs/gal.

I would also suggest purchasing the neccessary rock first and allow that to cure/settle before the macro algae is added. You will need a certain amount of nutrient to sustain the algaes and in a new system they will wither rather quickly...

Cheers
Steve

 

[Electrobes]

Thanks Steve sounds like a plan. I am pretty sure I will be getting a Helmet Cowfish if I can find it at my LFS ("Aquatexture", which is a great saltwater store)! I semi-read that they like sea grass, so I'll try to find some of that... plus whatever else is available that you listed. Doi most people go for the base rock route and then attack some live rock? I mean it sound s alot cheaper then just to purchase a bunch of liverock at once.. though the other method is more time consuming...

 

[steve-s]

Doi most people go for the base rock route and then attack some live rock? I mean it sound s alot cheaper then just to purchase a bunch of liverock at once.. though the other method is more time consuming...

Unfortunately no. Most want "insta reef" but the dead base rock and then possibley aquacultured LR is the way to go IMO. Much more ecologicaly minded and will be just as good as getting the harvested LR from reef systems. It just takes a few months to get the fauna/fluora to migrate but the end result is exactly the same.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Electrobes]

Great! Then I will go that route, seems more natural, and as odd as it sounds coming from a guy with madd ADD, I think the greatest pleasure I get from an aquarium other than building it... is seeing it grow on its own with the world thats in it as well.

 

[jackdp]

Some macroalgaes such as the Halimeda sp. mentioned above are calcerous and require high levels of calcium and carbonate to grow. Just a heads up so you know what to look for. I have halimeda in my tank that all but died off until I started dosing calcium and alk supplement.

 

[Electrobes]

hmm... well so far sea grass seems like the option.. anything else I could put in my tank plant/algae wise that would benefit a puffer or just the beauty and/or environement of the tank?? If any please also tell me if I need to dose the water with anything to keep it alive.. thanks!

 

[steve-s]

As mentioned, the halimeda is a calcerous algae but unless in a high CaCO3 demanding tank, simple weekly water changes should provide all the chem the algae will need to prosper. It is more often in new/low nutrient tanks that will cause most all macro algaes will not do well.

The puffer will ignore the algae and the coral beauty will nip at it a bit but if there are no true herbavors, then you will end up removing it as it grows which is whem it is most beneficial anyway. When you remove/harvest the algae, you also remove the pollutants with it. If/when the fish eat the algae, the impurities do not leave the tank

FWIW, sea grass/turtle grass is very hard to establish in a captive environment. If possible I would stick with the chaetomorpha if you can find it.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Electrobes]

well luckily I can't grow coral considering my lights - okay I'll look tomorrow at the LFS see if they even sell anything I can put in my tank.. for once I can go to a saltwater tank store!

 

[steve-s]

well luckily I can't grow coral considering my lights

Coral is a relative term. If you can get the other PC strip working, there are many types of lower light soft corals that you would be able to keep in a 45 gal tank with 2x65w PC's running...

Cheers
Steve