Caulerpa serrulata take it or leave it

[johnpeezy]

I found a patch of Caulerpa serrulata growing in my 20 gallon nano a few days ago, I thought it looked neat and made a note to go and research it.

Since then it has about tripled in size, so I finally decided to do a little digging online and see what I could come up with.

First off some facts:
My lights are on for 9 hours a day.
and it is in the display tank.
there is no way I can put it under a 24 hour light cycle where it is.

ok now the big question:

should I remove it or leave it?

I have seen many other people ask this question all over the internet, and the answers are wishy washy. So the general concensus was "I don't know" basiclly.

I have a 20 gallon tank, I know that stuff can go sexual in about 6 months. But I do not know if it could crash my tank if it does.

 

[returnofsid]

The idea of Macro algaes crashing a tank, by going sexual, has been widely "reported," but seldom, if ever, documented. You hear it all the time, but does anyone actually know anyone that it happened to? I've read several reports, from experts, stating that it's a myth. Just wish I could find those reports now...lol.

 

[johnpeezy]

Another one of my concerns, from what i have read, is caluerpa can actually be harmful to corals by the release of CO2 and the rerelease of nutrients too. But I dunno if any of this is correct.

If I leave this stuff in my tank judging by the way it has been growing already it will become totally unmanageable in a matter of months.

 

[Skimmy]

ahhh, the "sawblade" caluerpa...
probably the easiest to grow, hardest to kill caluerpa there is.

and yes, caluerpa DOES go sexual, I have seen it many times working at blue sierra, barrier reef and many privately owned tanks as well.

do you want to keep it in your tank???
hopefully this answers your question:

 

[mfinn]

As Marks picture shows, it will take over a tank, maybe not today or tomorrow, but left unchecked it will.
I have seen other tanks, not quite as bad, but nasty.

 

[reefreefer]

I have a 29 and a 150 I get all kinds of Caulerpa in the 29, I let it grow for a few weeks then I place it in the 150. My rabbit and tangs clean the rock better than I could ask. I don't think it will hurt your tank to let it grow and trim it as you need to, maybe find someone with a fish who can help you. I know that in a tank that small it can over grow everything in a short time so removing it by hand may help a lot. I keep some around just for free food. Hope this helps. Every one seems to have their own opinion on it but I don't think it hurts the corals when it turns your water milky the only thing I noticed was cloudy water, corals don't seem to mind and may even benefit from the extra nutrients. My caluerpa seems to go sexual at the end of summer or when I reduce my lighting cycle I have seen it happen 4 or 5 times and I do not worry about it, If it happens I just remove as much as I can, and it disappears and grows back by the next week, and the water is clear in less than a day. I also never have very much as my fish is a pig so it may not effect my tank as much for lack of quantity. I only have a few years under my belt and I am not always right, This is what I have experienced, I am interested in what others have to say so I can learn more too. Seems every time I figure something out someone else has figured out a better method.
Ca has S.C.C.A.T has 9 species of caulerpa banned in Ca I brought three with me from Washington and almost had my rock seized on the Oregon/Ca border they don't like it down here it takes over in the wild, I got lucky and trey let me keep it. I told them I was headed for RENO, sadly I only have one kind left and its legal, you are lucky, you dont have all the rules to follow.

 

[johnpeezy]

I think i'm going to play the better safe then sorry route and remove it, I only have a 20 gallon which isn't much of a water system to be playing around with like that.

 

[Redseadan74]

wow!!!! the pic. of that tank, that would suck and make me take it out. I hope I do not get that

 

[returnofsid]

ahhh, the "sawblade" caluerpa...
probably the easiest to grow, hardest to kill caluerpa there is.

and yes, caluerpa DOES go sexual, I have seen it many times working at blue sierra, barrier reef and many privately owned tanks as well.

do you want to keep it in your tank???
hopefully this answers your question:

I'm not arguing that it does go sexual. I know it goes sexual. BUT, I don't believe the "hype" about it crashing tanks when it goes sexual.

People say the same thing about Halimeda. I used to have LOTS of Halimeda in 2 tanks. It'd go sexual a few times a year, causing no problems at all, other than a couple hours of cloudy water.

 

[lion-clown]

Ok, so what is the best caluerpa to use in a refugium or in the tank?

 

[Skimmy]

caluerpa serulatta is fine for the refugium, just not a display tank.
caluerpa does absorb nutrient faster than chaetomorpha, and you should just leave the lights on it 24/7, that way it is less prone to going sexual.

and when caluerpa goes sexual it does release gelvin into the tank(as well as any phos or trates it has absorbed), which wont crash it, but it will feed nuisance algae and decrease water purity, potentially causing loss of color or rtn on some of the more sensitive SPS.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

I am quite fond of Mexicana. Have some for free if anyone wants it. Have kept it in almost every tank for close to 4 decades.

Yes I have seen most types all experience a die off. Typically in tanks with less than idel conditions and right after some big swing. I haven't watched a die off in any of my systems since the 80s

 

[TheNobleSavage]

I had to remove the live rock that was affected since it was pretty heavy duty stuff. I unfortunately had to get a steel scrub brush and remove it all and let it sit in fresh water. This happened to about 10 pounds of live rock. So after about a few weeks of fresh water, I put it back into the tank, rinsing it first and then I reseeded the live rock by putting it at the bottom of the tank next to some live rock and little by little, it seems to be coming back to life. caluerpa is nasty stuff when it gets into your tank and goes out of control!!