twinston

i am considering a 10g refugium, but i'm not sure what macro algae to consider. i want to be able to feed my fish with what i trim off. has any one heard of these ones, red grape macro algae (Botryocladia sp) and ulva lettuce algae (ulva sp.)

Wolfgang8810

I have heard of it but the best macro algae for a fuge is called chaetomorpha or chaeto for short. I dont believe fish will eat it but i could be wrong.

I say this becasue this is one of the easier types of macro algae to culture and when you get too much your LFS may give you store credit for your "harvest"

varder

Actually my tangs love chaeto!!! I think you should get it

twinston

which tangs do you have?

varder

I have a blue tang, yellow tang

Mike

I have a hang on refugium with chaeto and the yellow tang will eat any that chaeto finds its way into the main tank. They don't go after it like they would the gracilaria but they will eat chaeto.

twinston

do you grow the gracilaria or just buy it. how easy is it to grow?

Mike

I had to buy the gracilaria. The chaeto grew faster than the gracilaria. I got mine off of ebay for like $15 for about 2 softball sized pieces. I will probably be doing that again soon and will give it a better attempt at growing it out this time.

twinston

i put my tiny blue tang in the tank. he's going crazy for the hair algae. i figured i'll keep him in there till i can get the refugium going. i know a lot of people don't like the look of the hair algae, but its helping to keep my nitrates at 5 or less. in the mean time i'll take a stub at the gracilaria once the refugium is set up.

offminded

can you put chaeto into your sump as part of a bio filter process?

sgould

Yes, but you would need to put a light of some kind down over the sump, as the cheato would not last long shut up in a dark cabinet.