Introduction

Macroalgae bowl aquariums have become a rising trend within the marine fish & reef keeping community. These living displays showcase the diverse beauty, textures, and colors of marine macroalgae in a self-contained ecosystem. Unlike typical reef setups, macroalgae bowls are small, often self-sustaining, and require minimal upkeep.

Photo: A two-gallon macroalgae bowl aquarium containing over 15 different species of seaweed.

Care & Maintenance

Lighting & Flow

We often recommend LED full-spectrum lighting for macroalgae bowl aquariums. Our favorite lights are the SUSANOO 10W LED's from Marine Plant Store. The lights are specifically-made for marine macroalgae, and it's our personal light of choice! The bowl aquarium shown above utilizes this specific bulb.

Flow isn't as important in macroalgae bowl displays. Macroalgae can adapt to a very wide range of flow conditions, and we usually recommend just enough flow to circulate the water without blowing the macroalgae around. Small pumps can be found on site such as Amazon.

As for filters - the macroalgae act as their own! In such a small system, a filter will most likely outcompete the macroalgae. We don't recommend filters on small macroalgae bowls, as long as weekly water changes are conducted and there are no other living organisms, such as fish, present.

Nutrients

For our macroalgae bowl systems, we keep the following water chemistry:

Nitrate: 5-20ppm

Phosphate .02-.05ppm

Nitrite: 0ppm

Ammonia: 0ppm

Calcium: 400-450ppm

Magnesium: 1250-1350ppm

pH: 8.1-8.4ppm

Temperature: 72°F-78°F

As for dosing, especially in regard to micronutruents, we use Brightwell Aquatics products (shop here for fertilizers!) Most nutrients can be kept stable with weekly water changes, which we conduct weekly on these smaller systems as nutrients can be used up very quickly in such a small space.

Did We Miss Anything?

Let us know! If you have any further questions regarding macroalgae care please don’t hesitate to send us an email - we’re always eager to help and answer any questions you may have! ;)

DISCLAIMER: All information provided in this article is our own experience and may not work for everyone. There is no rigorous scientific backing to any of the claims made in this article, and all information is based on our own real-world experiences caring for 50+ species of macroalgae. In taking advice from our experiences in this article, you are acknowledging that the provided information may or may not work for your algae or your aquarium.