Chaeto or Caulerpa?

[AYGurgies]

Hi guys,

Which Macro algae is better to be used in the refugium, Chaeto or Caulerpa? And why?

[skidoctor]

I have both, and some lettuce. They work and grow great. Cheato was winning for a while, now it's the red caulerpa. Just trim and keep healthy.

[propeine]

From my reading and talking with Reefers I would suggest Chaeto due to it being unable to go sexual and spread throughout the tank. However people do use Caulerpa carefully. If it "spawns" from what I've seen you will end up with it everywhere though.

[AYGurgies]

I have both, and some lettuce. They work and grow great. Cheato was winning for a while, now it's the red caulerpa. Just trim and keep healthy.

How many hours of light do they need a day? Also, have you ever experienced the problem with Caulerpa going sexual? Thanks for the reply

[gskidmor]

If you keep pruning caulerpa it is highly unlikely to go sexual. I used it in my sump for the first 3 years in the hobby and never had it go sexual.

My suggestion - use a variety of different algaes if you can.

[miami0reefer]

I use culerpa at the moment because cheato is hard to find in the lfs. I have not had any problems for three months and I would guess that my tangs would eat it if it grew in the display.

[skidoctor]

Ha- that's funny. I've never seen caulerpa around here (that's why I have it) but cheato is everywhere. I run my sump/ fuge lights 24/7. Cheap 5500k cfl bulbs from home depot. No huge metal reflector.

[dannyp02908]

Correct me if i am wrong, but i thought all photosynthesizing organisms needed a dark period to process the sugars they made during the light period?

[gskidmor]

as a general rule that might be correct, but if you look up north towards the arctic circle, there is plenty of plant/tree life that lives in 6 months of straight day (no night time) and then 6 months of night (winter) with no light... [I know, it's like comparing apples and oranges, but it does show there are photosynthesizing organisms that work for approx 6 months straight with no dark period

[D-Nak]

Many species of caulerpa are now illegal in some areas, California being one of them. I have chaeto, dragons breath, and blue ochtodes in my fuge. Chaeto is the main algae, the others are just to add some color.

[dannyp02908]

I just have grape caulerpa and chaeto in my fuge but it isnt a display fuge (no room). Caulerpa is growing better than the chaeto. I run lights on fuge about 14 hours.

[Psyops]

I have lettuce algae. It does not get stuck in any intakes or anything and a lot easier to keep contained in an area. I like that way it looks also. Have not had as much luck growing health chaeto for some reason.

[loscaer]

Its better to have more than one type of algae because they all export different types of nutrients.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Its better to have more than one type of algae because they all export different types of nutrients.

Different types?

What types of nutrients did you have in mind?

[irvp13]

Try to keep a couple of different algaes, what makes them different is how they consume the nutrients as they go up and down in your tank.
I've run caulerpa for a couple of years with no problems.
Now I have ulva, cheato and dragon's breath in a 12 hr photo period.
I've read that running the lights on all the time helps preventing the caulerpa going sexual.