Conditions for growing Gracillaria

[boots]

I would like to grow some Gracillaria in a dedicated 20 gallon. Unfortunately I can't plumb this to my main tank. Does anyone know the optimum requirements for growth for Gracillaria?

Temperature?
Lighting? watts/gal. and K will 65 watts with 6500K Daylight PC work?
Feeding?
Movement?
Will other macroalgae's in the same water affect the growth?


Also, I just read that mixing macroalgae species in a tank is not a good idea because they can "fight" chemically just like corals. Is this true? I have Halimeda, Fauchea, Chaetomorpha, a little bit of Ulva and Gracillaria (for the tangs) all in the same system water. I don't seem to have any problems.

Thanks

[mojoreef]

Hi boots, Gracillaria is one of the harder ones to grow, but the fish do love it. You are right on the chemical warfare, and Gracillaria does not have to much if any. The most sucess I have had growing this kind of algae was to do it in a 5 gallon bucket. I just put a heater in it and a small PH. this keeps the algae swirling and tumbling, which it seems to perfer the best. Lettuce algae like it that way to. For light I just used a 80 HD grow light, worked just fine.

Because you are not hooked up to your tank you are going to have a bit of a problem suppling nutrients that the algae needs for tissue growth. i would suggest doing water swaps with your tank water, to supply it with what it needs.


hope it helps


Mike

[boots]

Hi Mike,

That's exactly what I've been doing! I do two 5% water changes/week from my display tank, so instead of throwing that water out, I've been putting it in the Gracillaria tank, changing out the old water in there for the "new"/old water from the display tank. Do you think this will be enough nutrients?

I also added a powerhead to the tank today, but I don't think it's enough, as there doesn't seem to be much tumbling. I think I'll add another one tomorrow. Thanks! Dianna.

[mojoreef]

Dianna growth wil be the indicator. As I said its a tough one to grow, if you see growth, your doing good.


Mike

[kevinpo]

Hey Mikey don't I know you from somewhere?


Welcome

Nice to see you here

Regards,
Kevin

[Reefland]

Sorry to hijack this thread but I also wanted to say Welcome to Reefland, mojoreef. And to you Kevin, your web site is looking nice! Can't wait to see more pictures of your 450!

[mojoreef]

Kevenpo???? .....HHhhmmm.... are you that guy with the nano tank in the west somewhere??? lol


Hey buddy


Hiya Reefland, I was actually a member of ReefLand for year but could not remeber what my user name or password was...so I just started fresh..site is looking great.


Mike