- What's up coral people. My name is Remy,
and today we're going to continue the series
on my AquaMaxx 9.1 Gallon Macro Display Algae build.
That's a lot of words.
And I also just noticed that my head covers the BRS TV logo
that adaptive brief made me.
Have to figure out another placement for that.
In this series, I'm going to answer some questions
that are based around,
how to have and care for a Macro Algae Display Tank.
Macromania has only just begun.
It only just begun.
Think about all of the beauty that a
fresh water planted take brings,
combined with all of the saltwater creatures
that you've come to know and love.
Whether this is your first tank or you've had several
saltwater tanks in the past.
This is surely going to present some new challenges.
In this video,
I want to take a deep dive into all of the equipment
that we're going to be using for this build-out.
Will this be boring?
Probably. It's equipment.
The cool videos are next,
but stick with me because you're going to need this
to make sure that everything lives.
Keep in mind,
There are a lot of different options on equipment.
That said, you can get the exact same equipment
that I'm using.
You can pick and choose the equipment that you want
for your build, or you can go full rogue
and experiment on your own.
That is the beauty of this hobby.
First things first.
You're gonna need a tank.
For this build the tank I'm going to be using
is the AquaMaxx 9.1 Gallon Cuboid.
I chose this tank because it's got a coolest shape.
It's low iron, and it comes with its own custom mat.
There are a lot of different shapes and sizes
that you can find on the BRS website.
So make sure you check out all of your options.
You can really let your creativity go wild on this one.
And the fact that you don't need a sump
or an all in one feature on the tank,
it really makes those options endless.
Just make sure that you keep in mind the growth pattern of
the macro algae that you are going to be keeping.
Are you going to be keeping the taller leafy macro algae,
or the more close together kind of bush-like macro.
Or maybe you're going to keep all of it.
Just keep that in mind when you're looking
at the height of your tank.
Second most important thing is probably going to be
your lighting.
It's always a touchy subject and probably because
it's the area you're going to spend
the most money on.
For this build, I'm going to be using
the AI prime 16 freshwater light.
I've had a great experience
with the Aqua illumination products over the years.
The AI prime 16 freshwater is great for not only bringing
out the colors of all of the plants
in your saltwater macro display,
but also all the natural colors of your fish and inverts.
The light and spectrum are also fully controllable
from your phone, which makes it super easy.
And you might be wondering why a freshwater light
over a salt water system?
Well, freshwater lights are commonly used
on these macro display tanks.
They love that full spectrum lighting.
And like I said, in the last video,
this really makes for great pictures, no filter needed.
The next item on the list is flow.
And I'm going to be 100% honest with you.
No matter how you do this,
you don't necessarily need a hanger on the back filter,
but if you don't have the hang on the back,
you're going to need flow.
You're going to need to be able to turn over
the tank's water in some way shape or form.
For this build, I did choose the smallest in the tidal line.
The tidal 35 hang on the back filter.
And I'm going to tell you why I picked this.
Not only will it provide flow in the tank,
but also if there's ever a need to add
any kind of media down the road, it's super easy.
Just to put it in the hang on the back filter,
and have it cycle through all of the water in the tank.
For my current Pico tank.
I actually have some Marine pier block just hanging out
in the hang on the back filter.
This adds a little bit more
surface area for bacteria to flourish.
Some of the great things about the tidal
hang on the back filters is that they are versatile.
They have a large capacity media basket,
and inside there you can put mechanical biological,
and chemical filtration.
It's got adjustable flow,
a built-in maintenance monitor,
and this is huge for macro algae tanks,
a surface skimmer inlet, super fast, super easy setup,
no plumbing required.
And remember, if you choose not to go
where they hang on the back filter,
you're going to need some kind of flow.
So that might be a small power head.
Maybe the AI Nero would be good for that.
Now, depending on where you live,
you're probably going to need a heater.
For this build, I'm going to be using
the BRS titanium heater element paired
with the Inkbird thermostat.
These heating elements are super popular.
So make sure if you see these
on the bulk reef supply website,
not to think about it, just pick it up while you can.
You'll also have the option to bundle the heating element
with an Inkbird wifi thermostat.
When you pair the two, you'll save yourself a couple bucks.
In my experience with smaller macro algae tanks,
I've tried to get away with, you know,
the 10 watt, the 15 watt, the 2025 watt heaters,
but it just doesn't provide enough power.
So, for this built,
we're going to be using the 100 watt heater
that BRS provides.
I think the 100 is going to have no problem
keeping the temperature steady in the tank.
And because this tank is a little bit longer,
it'll be easier to hide behind the rock work.
Speaking of rock work, let's talk about rock and sand.
I'll be using a couple of CaribSea products.
One that I've used and one that I've never used,
but I've always wanted to try.
I have used the CaribSea sand
for... I cannot tell you how many years.
It's a great product.
I've always used it. I've never had bad luck.
And I like the grain size that this sand comes in.
Now, keep in mind, there are several different sized grains
that you can choose from, when it comes to your sand.
Pick which you like best.
My favorite is the reef sand.
Remember a live aragonite reef sand from CaribSea
contains millions and millions of live bacteria.
And that's going to help create
a natural biological balance in your tank.
I'm also going to be trying something new for this build.
The CaribSea life rock.
Life rock also comes with a little bit
of a CaribSea surprise.
It's infused with sport bacteria
to help improve biological performance.
It's also got millions of micro and macro passage ways
that bacteria can flourish and develop it.
And best of all, CaribSea's life rock is great for anybody
that thinks about sustainability,
when they're going about putting rock in their tank.
What I'm most after in this tank is that I didn't want
stark white rocks in this tank right off the bat.
And that's what's nice about the carob sea life rock.
It comes in that purple-ish look.
So it looks like it's a mature rock,
even though it technically isn't.
Now this rock isn't for you. No worries.
There are plenty of other choices of dry rock
on the BRS website.
One more thing to think about as you're putting this
all together is supplements.
How are you going to feed the macro algae?
There are three supplements that I suggest.
NeoNitro,
NeoPhos,
and ChaetoGro.
All of these products are from Brightwell Aquatics.
Now why would we want to put nitrates, and phosphates,
and ChaetoGro in our tank intentionally.
From all of the research that you've ever done.
When it comes to keeping nutrients in your tank,
you want to keep them at a minimum so that you
don't have a huge hair algae outbreak in your tank.
Or on the other side,
you don't want to totally deplete your tank of nutrients,
because then you've got to deal with dinos.
Remember, we're going to want nutrients in this tank.
We want to grow algae.
So we're going to want to make sure
that those nutrients are up.
You know, nitro is going to give you those nitrates.
NeoPhos is going to give you,
you guessed it.
Phosphates.
And ChaetoGro,
think of that as a fertilizer,
mainly for its iron supplement.
It's also got some other great trace elements
that will help your macro algae flourish.
And our caveat of this.
And I'll say that you can DIY
a lot of these supplements yourself.
Personally.
I just like tossing these supplements in the cart
and not even thinking about it,
because I would probably measure something wrong
and kill everything in the tank.
If you have any more questions about these supplements,
Thomas from our BRS TV team actually did
an entire couple of videos on these supplements,
and he can take you through why they're needed,
why they're so valuable in the aquarium hobby.
We'll definitely link those below.
Okay, so, all the boring stuff is out of the way now.
So that's good.
It's like when you have to learn everything from a textbook
before you actually get to go do the thing.
Well, now we can go do the thing.
So in the next video,
we're going to scape the tank.
We're also going to get it wet.
It'll be nice to see all this great equipment
put to good use.
Oh, and I wanted to show you something.
I ended up grabbing a really cool piece of furniture
from a local furniture maker here in the St. Louis area.
And that's where this tank is going to rest.
Remember, these tanks very much a part
of the interior design of your home or space.
So make them look nice.
I've been playing around with some scapes,
so I'm really excited to show you what I've got there.
And I'm excited to see this all come together.
There's rock and rubble all over the floor.
And my wife absolutely loves it.
She doesn't love it because it gets clogged in the vacuum.
It goes up like a vacuum,
and it makes a loud noise in the vacuum,
and it probably will break something in the vacuum,
and then we'll have to get a new vacuum.
And then...
lots of things.
Join me on this build by taking a look at all
of the cool shapes and sizes that the AquaMaxx tank line
has to offer from the link right here.
(quiet room)