Caulerpa Problems Poll

[Curtswearing]

I voted for all four.

I have used Caulerpa, Halimeda (was in display tank and not in fuge), Chaeto, Gracilaria, and even Ulva. If you have a number of different algaes in your fuge, it is definately a game of, "Survival of the Fittest". In my case, the Caulerpa won. The Chaeto and Ulva didn't grow at all as long as the Caulerpa was in there. The Gracilaria was the only macro that my yellow tang would eat. Since it was being out-competed or was being poisoned...I don't know...and was receding, I fed it to my yellow tang. As a result, I don't have a whole lot of experience with it. BTW...normally you shouldn't take macro's out of your fuge to feed your fish. Instead of exporting nutrients, you would be re-introducing them.

At one time, I didn't have a timer for my lights. If you have Halimeda in your display tank, at least with my experience, that is not a good plan. One weekend, I turned on my lights hours later than normal and my Halimeda was white and there was coral slime all over the tank. (Thankfully not as bad as the pictures above because I didn't have as much Halimeda as Tom did).

Light should be able to penetrate to all levels of leaves by a reasonable amount. Also, the algea should have available space to grow.

Among many excellent points in your post, I wanted to reitterate this one. I cannot tell you how many refugiums I've seen that had a huge thick mat of algae on top and white "sexual" macroalgae's on the bottom. Talk about taking one step forward and two steps back. People say they grow macro's to export nutrients but never bother to export (prune). Basically, a fuge that is doing this is merely re-cycling nutrients.

 

[FragPacks.com]

We have a 60 gallon barebottom refug fill of Caulerpa that has been running for almost 2 years now without incident, even after a couple of large moves. We use regular pruning and a 24 hour light cycle to combat the chance of it going sexual.

 

[Stircrazy]

I had Grape Caulerpa in my tank and was having to harvest it every month or it would choke out everything. I started to notice a pattern on the 3rd month that a couple days after I pulled about 2 gall out of the tank the fish would seem lethargic and I would lose one or two every time. I ended up taking the rock out and removing the weed and haven't had a problem since. Oh and my yellow tang and my fox face would not eat it either.

Steve

 

[The Apprentice]

Like Charlie almost

Caulerpa and chaeto. Caulerpa has gone sexual twicw with no problems. Just yanked all of it out that was white and started all over again. I guess it's a tribute to my skimmer and overall stability that I haven't had any problems. I just keep knocking on wood.

I started my tank with Chaeto And then added Caulerpa I then found out about the Caulerpa so i have kept my lights on all the time untill i was able to remove all of my Caulerpa I have mainly just Chaeto now but i am still tring to remove pesky remnants of Caulerpa that seems to show up from no ware
I also posted a picture when i set up my brand new Miracle Mud® Reefugium 200M model It has been a great Reefugium

 

[kylem]

Hi,
I have tried to use the bubble Caulerpa and the razor Caulerpa twice. Both times I had the same results of the hard corals and anenomes dieing or parts of them dieing in the whole tank. I had less drastic results with the bubble Caulerpa but dramatic die off results withe the razor Caulerpa. I read in some books the the long hair algae on a rock is the best and does not take much light to get it to grow. I have yet to try it because I am afraid of it getting into the main tank. Halameda is also out of the question because its toxins have an even greater effect. The first time I added Caulerpa to the refugium I did not have passive charcoal. The second time I used passive charcoal. The end results were the same but slower to be recognized. I tested these 4 months apart to make sure that this is what was causing the problems.
What have you been using in your tank? Do you have corals? Hard or soft?

 

[northstaraquatics]

I hate to say it, but the words "allowing it spread into unwanted areas" is entirely ignoring the devestation some species can inflict upon corals. Since this is an ignored aspect, how do I simply not allow them to grow in the tank? I have two schools of thought concerning algae:

1) Do not pull it. Reduce nutrient input. Pulling it and not getting it all causes it to break off into different tangents and allows the release of "juice" from the broken ends.

2) Yank everything out of the tank, scrub it 'till the rock is devoid of life, throw it in a bucket for 6 months in the dark to make sure it's really dead.

Which of these two possiblities works for anyone out there? None work for me, because it doesn't work(1) and I refuse to do it(2). I guess I need to add pictures for this to make sense to anyone but me, but I don't have an erradication choice (except for option 2, which I refuse to do).

Jon

From delving into this topic, reading, asking questions, listening to people etc. It appears that the largest number of problems with algeas, Culerpas and other macro-algeas, can be classified into two groups.

The first group involves aggressive growth of the algea to crowd, overtake and/or overgrow. I don't really consider this a "problem" as much as an improper management technique and or strategy regarding the algea, i.e. putting it or allowing it to spread into unwanted areas or the main tank. Having it in the main tank, however, can increase the risk of developing problems related to the second category below.


Sincerely...Collin

 

[mojoreef]

What kind do you have Jon?? I used to grow razor a long time ago and I guess on one of the harvestings a small peice must have wondered back into the tank. Man...once that happened it went nuts. Attaching to every thing and overwhelming everything. I found that when with in close proximity of SPS colonies the colony just stopped growing, in some cases the growth began covering the corals, in both cases I began to see spots of tissue loss, not sure if toxin or if irratation.
I pulled all the rock and a bunch of began pulling the weed, dug out roots, scraped even took a tiger torch to areas I couldnt get. Put the rock into dark drums for 2 months. Then back into the tank. Took all of 3 weeks for it to begin to grow once more.....real bummmer. Added the Vlamingii tang three years ago as a show fish, fist thing he did was to eat everything green in the tank I havent seen a speck of it since.

Mike

 

[cwcross]

I hate to say it, but the words "allowing it spread into unwanted areas" is entirely ignoring the devestation some species can inflict upon corals. Since this is an ignored aspect, how do I simply not allow them to grow in the tank? I have two schools of thought concerning algae:

Jon

Yes, I did not mean to belittle this problem. I realize now that my statement makes it seem this way. I am sorry for not making that very clear.

What I meant to say is that although having overgrowth and aggressive spread, is a problem, it is not directly related to the problems of going sexual and exhibiting toxicity, which is what I was focused on and is typically associated with caulerpas. Of course if a toxic algea spreads all over your corals, then this is bad, and will possibly lead to a greater risk of having the other problems as well.

Sincerely...Collin

 

[northstaraquatics]

See photo below - on left is xenia for size reference.

I have a stringy type of runner that intertwines itself into a mat. it has small cups that sprout here and there every couple of inches along the runners. I can't find a good ID anywhere. - macrodisca var. ? Definitaly not racemosa or razor type. I'll see if I can get a picture on Sunday.

Jon

 

[northstaraquatics]

The other thought for total tank loss is O2 depletion rather than toxic poisoning. Any thoughts or comments I missed earlier?

Jon

 

[cwcross]

Yes, I did briefly mention that point earlier. Too much of any algea is bad and as has been pointed out is not to be found in a healthy reef. I think the only place for algea is in the refugium. Some believe it is not even appropriate there. Some like it in the thier tank though. I have a little halimeda in my main tank, isolated on the substrate in some yellow polyps. I couple stalks went sexual once and turned white. I took them out. I am considering taking out all of it. However, it is nice looking though. It is also easy to manage where I have it.

Sincerely...Collin

 

[mojoreef]

Collin if you like the look of some vegitation in the tank, take a peek at some of the sea grasses that are available, they are a little more hardy, enjoy the intence light in a reef tank, have small root systems, which can help with pulling nutrients out of your bed and really kinda look nice.

just some thoughts


Mike

 

[northstaraquatics]

I hate to say that picture is in my main tank.... We won't look at one side of the sump(worse). The other side of the side is algae free, and the 75 gal perched on top of that sump has no caulerpa, just roses(anemones that is). I've always had trouble keeping halimeda and haven't seen seagrass for sale.

Mike, you mentioned Naso tangs earlier (or I saw it on another site). You have some you recommend? I put a large Purple tang in the sump and it did remove some softer algae is a small area. I don't know much about compatibility with Nasos...

Jon

 

[piercho]

I've mucked about with 3 specie of Caulerpa. IME, all of these were undesirable for the display tank. One, racemosa var peltata, is especially difficult to control in the display. I like plants and purposely keep several in the display, but I just can't recommend any caulerpa that I've encountered for that purpose.

For a vegetative filter, in a separate tank, its so-so IMO. Several specie have high N consumption ratios, which makes it undesirable right off the bat in my thinking. Its reputed to be leaky as well, although I'm not sure how how much noxious stuff it really leaks in comparison to other graze-resistant macros. IME its production rate is less than Chaetomorpha under identical conditions, and comparable to a Sargassum and Halimeda specie I keep.

I've never experienced any of mine that were established "going sexual" in mass. Also, it is resistant to filamentous overgrowth, IME.

 

[piercho]

By Northstarquatics: "I can't find a good ID anywhere. - macrodisca var. ? " I've been calling THAT one racemosa var peltata (page 46 "Marine Plants of the Caribbean"), but I really have no clue. All I know is that its a *******. And I don't even know how it got in the tank, it just showed up one day. I can say that IME a Diadema urchin avoided established mats, as well as Siganus lo.

By Mojoreef: "Collin if you like the look of some vegitation in the tank, take a peek at some of the sea grasses that are available, they are a little more hardy, enjoy the intence light in a reef tank, have small root systems, which can help with pulling nutrients out of your bed and really kinda look nice." Penicillus (shaving brush) and Udotea (mermaids fan) are two green calcerous algaes that are attractive, slow spreading, and stay in the sandbed. A Halimeda I have stays mostly associated with the sandbed, but occasionally makes excursions onto rock, and is generally too productive for the main tank. I've tried 4 seagrasses, and of those I found Syringodium (manatee grass) has established itself and resisted grazing the best. Its also more attractive than Thalassia, IMO: thin, tubular, bright green blades.

 

[mojoreef]

Jon I got lucky with the vlamingii tang. its eats everything green. It is a very friendly fish and bothers no one. But it is also a big fish and grows rapidly and needs a very large tank. I think I saw one for sale in the livestock forum.


Mike