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 My
interest with keeping tropical fish began at an early age growing
up near the Florida Everglades in
South Florida. With a bucket and net in hand, I would often spend entire
afternoons with my brother, wading through alligator and snake
infested waters in search of freshwater tropical fish for our
small aquarium at home. As I grew older, I started snorkeling and collecting
marine fish and invertebrates from tide pools and near shore
reefs. The fish were way more colorful than the freshwater varieties
available to me and the amount of invertebrates available
were interesting and fascinating. This was in the early 80's
when marine aquariums were not as popular in the United States. About the
time when reef aquariums and live rock began to gain in
popularity, I was now living on the Gulf of Mexico in Florida. The
fish species were not as colorful as on the east coast; the water was not as clear, but something
else was abundant, marine macro algae were growing everywhere! The
warm nutrient rich waters of the Gulf of Mexico in Florida
are full of a wide array of fascinating and colorful marine algae.
At first, most of my interest
was with growing various species of Caulerpa. I soon
however, began experimenting with growing other more colorful and
challenging varieties including both brown and red algae.
My
first attempts at culturing marine macro algae were marked with
some frustration and failure, but I continued learning and
experimenting until I was able to successfully grow several
species in the aquarium using natural sunlight and collected
seawater from the Gulf. I was once told by a reputable pet
store owner that macro algae was difficult to keep alive for
any length of time in captivity. We began selling and trading it
to a local aquarium shop mainly as live food for tangs and angel
fish. During this time, keeping coral in captivity was rare as
well. This
was years before the refugium became popular as a form of
filtration.
Most
of the information contained in this publication is related
to both my personal experience and observation. Let
me first say that I am not a biologist, but an avid aquarist with
many years of experience maintaining saltwater aquariums. Most literature
available on marine plants today is technical and often
requires advanced knowledge to understand. In addition, the
majority of books on the subject are mostly field guides for students and
lack detailed information on aquarium use. The purpose of this
publication is to offer a simplified guide for the identification,
use and culture of marine macro algae and plants in the aquarium.
Russ
Kronenwetter
is the owner of Gulf Coast Ecosystems, a wholesale and
retail supplier of ornamental
marine algae in Florida. Russ was a pioneer in the industry
and has introduced many unknown species of macro algae to the
aquarium trade over the past 25 years.
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