Nutrient Export Options?

dela · 10/16/2007, 09:42 PM

So what are all the nutrient export options?

I was reading an article that got me thinking....

It mentioned some negative aspects of caulerpas. Basically that they leach "terpenoids, sugars etc". Currently I'm exporting cheato. I wonder if it has the same drawbacks? I don't even know what a terpenoid is, but doing a google search I saw this heading.. "Antimicrobial and cytotoxic terpenoids from tropical green algae". That can't be good. But, Cheato does not go sexual and even goes dormant if I forget to turn the lights on for a month. Which is the reason I've thrown all my other Caulerpas away.

How about corals? You always hear about people using Xenia as a nutrient export (although this might be more of an exaggeration in some cases!). What is their downside? What do they release?

Kenya trees. I think it grows faster than xenia, or at least mine did. I imagine they release toxins into the tank so maybe they are not so great in large quantities?

Mangroves. I guess the drawback there would be that they stick out of the tank. Personally I like to limit evap and keep a lid on everything. Plus, what do you do with it when it gets too big? Throw it out and start with a new one?

According to the article, halimeda seems to be a good choice for display tank options. What about some of these odd ball plants like shaving brush or "blade plant" from saltwaterfish.com? Never tried either of those, I wonder how well they grow? Are they a waste of money? My guess is that these are also display tank options.

What else am I not thinking of?

JimKelly12203 · 10/16/2007, 10:05 PM

I'm no expert, but i would just bombard my refugium with multiple types of macro algae and give the fuge an 18+ hour photoperiod. In time that shoudl (should) do the trick i think.

dela · 10/16/2007, 10:24 PM

18+ hours? There was yet another article I read a while back about a study on some amazonian plants. It was found that the optimal growth was achieved on a 16 hour photoperiod. Any more/less would be sub optimal. I wonder if anyone has ever done a real study on cheato to determine the optimal photoperiod. I'm sure corals have an optimal photoperiod as well? That would be pretty useful information considering many of us have frag tanks!

JimKelly12203 · 10/16/2007, 10:41 PM

Oh i'm certain they've done such studies.

I know ppl that run their fuge on a 24-7 lights on photoperiod. I'm not too big of a fan of that. Granted, plants don't seem like the kinds of organisms that need rest, but i'm sure there is a limmit in the return on investment there.

16 sounds about right.

But i would really fire up the macro algae's metabolism to try to get that crap out of your water. And i'd employ a couple types of macro-algae to do it.

10/16/2007, 09:42 PM	#1
dela Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: St Louis Posts: 1,526	Nutrient Export Options? So what are all the nutrient export options? I was reading an article that got me thinking.... It mentioned some negative aspects of caulerpas. Basically that they leach "terpenoids, sugars etc". Currently I'm exporting cheato. I wonder if it has the same drawbacks? I don't even know what a terpenoid is, but doing a google search I saw this heading.. "Antimicrobial and cytotoxic terpenoids from tropical green algae". That can't be good. But, Cheato does not go sexual and even goes dormant if I forget to turn the lights on for a month. Which is the reason I've thrown all my other Caulerpas away. How about corals? You always hear about people using Xenia as a nutrient export (although this might be more of an exaggeration in some cases!). What is their downside? What do they release? Kenya trees. I think it grows faster than xenia, or at least mine did. I imagine they release toxins into the tank so maybe they are not so great in large quantities? Mangroves. I guess the drawback there would be that they stick out of the tank. Personally I like to limit evap and keep a lid on everything. Plus, what do you do with it when it gets too big? Throw it out and start with a new one? According to the article, halimeda seems to be a good choice for display tank options. What about some of these odd ball plants like shaving brush or "blade plant" from saltwaterfish.com? Never tried either of those, I wonder how well they grow? Are they a waste of money? My guess is that these are also display tank options. What else am I not thinking of?

10/16/2007, 10:05 PM	#2
JimKelly12203 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Albany Posts: 205	I'm no expert, but i would just bombard my refugium with multiple types of macro algae and give the fuge an 18+ hour photoperiod. In time that shoudl (should) do the trick i think.

10/16/2007, 10:24 PM	#3
dela Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: St Louis Posts: 1,526	18+ hours? There was yet another article I read a while back about a study on some amazonian plants. It was found that the optimal growth was achieved on a 16 hour photoperiod. Any more/less would be sub optimal. I wonder if anyone has ever done a real study on cheato to determine the optimal photoperiod. I'm sure corals have an optimal photoperiod as well? That would be pretty useful information considering many of us have frag tanks!

10/16/2007, 10:41 PM	#4
JimKelly12203 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Albany Posts: 205	Oh i'm certain they've done such studies. I know ppl that run their fuge on a 24-7 lights on photoperiod. I'm not too big of a fan of that. Granted, plants don't seem like the kinds of organisms that need rest, but i'm sure there is a limmit in the return on investment there. 16 sounds about right. But i would really fire up the macro algae's metabolism to try to get that crap out of your water. And i'd employ a couple types of macro-algae to do it.