growing macro algae

[Blondek727]

i have a powder blue tang about 4 inches long he is on a diet of fresh ulva and red gracilaria i want to use what i have and grow more of it for him to eat. right now i have it in my sump but it doesnt seem to be growing i think its because of a lack of nutients in my tank what would be a good set up for growing these macro algae's this is what i was thinking tell me what u think i was going to put them in a ten gallon tank with 40w of 50/50 pc lighting and a HOB filter and a heater to keep the water at around 70 degrees from what i read thats the best temp for production and just throw a frozen silver side in there every month or as needed.

 

[neilanh]

Do you have any lighting over them down in your sump?

 

[melosu58]

Tangs also like grape calerpa. Just another choice you can feed.

 

[Blondek727]

yes there is lighting its the same lighting i was gonna use on the ten gallon 40w 50/50 pc and melosu58 i know they like it but mine doesnt touch the stuff his fav is ulza and red graci. or as my friend from IPSF.com would say tang heaven green and red

 

[Blondek727]

so what do u think is this gonna work?

 

[thincat]

I think that you should find yourself an Asian market and buy your red gracilaria there. It is called "Ogo" and is very cheap there. I get mind for under $4.00 for a hugh bunch.

 

[thincat]

Growing red gracilaria is a bit of a task. You would have to keep the water under 78 degrees and it becomes a pain in the drain.

 

[thincat]

Here is a picture of my recent bunch of "OGO".

 

[thincat]

As you can see it's $5.99 a pound and this batch cost me $2.76. Not a bad deal. I have found that if you salt it with some rocksalt it last much longer.

 

[johnmaloney]

yep it should, high flow is best.