This calcareous algae stores calcium in its tissue: This is the reason that making sure that the saltwater aquarium has enough calcium is important.

Mermaids Fan Plants are generally considered a hardy plant that the majority of fish steer clear of eating.

Pruning is not a good idea either. Any pruning can be highly damaging to Mermaid Fan Plants.

Mermaid fan plants are part of the Halimeda family.

This is the same family as the Halimeda Money Plant. So, many of the plants needs are similar, even if the shape is completely different.

Some the similarities that Mermaid Fan Plants share with others species are the Mermaid Fan Plants need for trace iron, large quantities of calcium and low tolerance for nitrate & phosphate.

The water condition requirements of the Mermaid Fan Plant are also very similar to that of other species in the Halimedaceae family. The pH level in the tank should be set for between 8.1-8.4. The temperature should be approximately between 78 72 º F.

Mermaids Fan plants are often found around off the Caribbean cost of Central America, reaching as far into the Atlantic Ocean as the Bahamas.

Mermaids fan is sometimes confused with Frilly fan, or green fan; But the frilly fan, and or green fan is a part of the Udoteaceae Family.

It is believed that Halimeda originated in the saltwater reefs of Hawaii and / or the Caribbean regions.

The Halimeda is widely used in the saltwater aquarium plants community not only in the United States; but also internationally among saltwater plant enthusiasts.

The green leaved Halimeda is a saltwater aquarium plant that is attached like a chain link and is also known as the “money plant”. The look of the Halimeda is that of each coin (leaf) being attached as if glued together end to end in a winding row.

One of the great features of halimeda is a saltwater aquarium is that this plant is not a favorite food source for most reef aquarium plants. Conversely, pruning halimeda is not good for the plant at all.

In turn, it is totally safe to place coral, invertebrates, such very close by in the tank. Halimeda are not invasive, so they are not a speciel threat to these other saltwater aquarium reef tank inhabitants.

Halimeda have a much lower tolerance to nitrate and phosphate. This could be counter intuitive for some enthusiasts who are used to working with algae that can thrive in much higher levels of both nitrate and phosphate.

Halimeda grows best with high concentrations of calcium. Halimeda take the calcium and store the mineral within the plants tissue. A small amount of iron in the environment is very beneficial, although less crucial.

Placing the Halimeda plant in water that is a pH of 8.1 -8.4 and between 72 -78° F that is in a very well lit area within the saltwater aquarium will add sustainable variety to the look of your in home aquarium.

Every plant in the sea has its place. This place was determined through billions of years of evolution, and of this, humankind knows so little. To make the choice of which saltwater plants to enchant the underwater kingdom of any aquarist’s new project, there are some vital things to consider.

Are the plants going to be accepted by the other inhabitants?

Are the plants going to accept the environments chemical balance?

Will the temperature and lighting be acceptable?

Acceptance is a tricky area, as it is not just the inhabitants that need to accept the plans, but their organisms as well. That is; are the plants going to be aggressive to the other living creatures in the aquarium? If the plants are sick, or have the habit of giving off an excess of harmful chemicals or are by nature themselves toxic, then they can be considered aggressive. If the contrary is so, such as fish that like to eat the plant, or attack the root system, or don’t give off enough CO2, then it is the aquascape itself which is aggressive. In either case, planting the newcomer in a refugium for a while might be the solution. Or not, this really depends on looking at all the factors of the aquarium as intermingling organic systems that thrive off of one another within a sacred niche.

Chemical balance is not just merely the artificial injection of CO2 and an air compressor, blowing huge bubbles in the tank. Delicate concepts like KH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, need to be carefully analyzed in order to fully comprehend the magnitude of marine biology. Marine ecology in nature is so vastly complex in this sense, that philosophical debates have been responsible for some of the most incredible naval mythologies since the ancient Phoenicians first set sail around Africa with the Polaris star as their navigating compass. Myth is strong, and without Cartesian thinking, and Aristotelian exploration of nature, we are blinded by our expectations. Only this kind of research will uncover the material truths of a saltwater aquarium. If developing in accordance to natural habitat, then it is important to know what that habitat really is, otherwise, no matter how much synthetic medicine is thrown in any artificial saltwater ecosystem, it will continue to degrade.

One main cause of insupportable degradation in all saltwater aquariums is algae. Algae loves to thrive in the hobbyist’s projects, because algae are everywhere in tide pools, Nature’s closest thing to an aquarium. To keep the aesthetics of an aquarium, and avoid thriving algae, it is necessary to replace about 25% of the saltwater every two weeks or so, unless developing a sustainable system that has water moving around into algae destroying refugiums, which is a possibility.

All in all, what most plants need to survive, other than lots of CO2 and a safe place to root, is light and temperature. Temperatures inside the aquarium cannot vary constantly because they don’t in the wild. If they do, then plants and livestock die. Too hot or too cold, can be lethal to any marine dweller. As important as compatible temperatures, is the proper lighting. If the lighting is too low, some forms of plant life will not be able to do photosynthesis, and thus feed the rest of the aquascape properly and finally get ill and die of suffocation. Lighting and temperatures must be compatible.

Plants need to be chosen carefully, in accordance to the other living organisms inside the confines of the saltwater aquarium. The combination between plants and livestock must be both healthy and happy. Plants need to be adequate to the chemical balance (KH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, CO2… etc) and conditions (light and temperature) already existent within the closed ecosystem. Once well researched and thoroughly studied, the unseen world of Jules Vern can become a foundation for human inspiration and the will to live, by simply keeping a saltwater aquarium with plants that remind us of what it is to be a part of nature’s mysteries.