Growing Feather Boa Kelp (Egregia menziesii)

Anyone have experience growing kelp? There is a lot of Feather Boa Kelp (Egregia menziesii) attached to small rocks at a nearby beach. I haven't been able to find out much about aquaculture for this species. I have read that, in general, kelp needs cool temperatures, low nutrients, moderate to high light, high flow.

High flow and light are definitely key to keep kelp healthy. Kelp definitely need cool temperatures and die quickly without. You pretty much know as much as the rest of us.

The feather boa kelp certainly is nice looking!

Yesterday I collected some Feather Boa Kelp. Today I bought and installed a chiller, so my tank is officially temperate. I saw some oxygen bubble 'pearling' today when I had the lights on, which is a good sign of photosynthesis in action. My current tank is 15 gallons and I'm running a 400 gph powerhead. I plan to add another tomorrow to increase the flow.

Sounds good! Pictures?

Parts of the Feather Boa Kelp started to die off, so I decided to trim it back a bit. If this one doesn't survive, I'll try again with another specimen.

You might find that it will quickly die without similar water, strong current, and low lighting. Mine certainly did.

The kelp is continuing to slowly melt away. I'm going to have to do some more research about that. I'm having more success with the red macros and seagrass.

Sadly my experience was the same. Are you sure something isn't eating it as well?

Logically, growth occurs at the base of the blades (meristem) in the case of kelps, and the holdfast serves only to anchor the algae. So, I'd say you could try taking just part of the meristem. Though it is usually best to have it attached if you're taking a significant amount since otherwise it is likely to float around in your tank and cause some disruptions.