feather caulerpa

[jimsta]

How bad is feather caulerpa? That is the only kind that they have at my lfs. I am going to go to a new LFS that opened a few days ago and see what they have. Its only going in my sump, which will have NO lighting. Will it grow?

[RicksReefs]

take a walk down to the IR lagoon, you can
pick up feather, grape, prolifera, & sometimes
mexicana in the flats in 1'-2' of water at low tide.

[jimsta]

is it OK to take seaweed from the ocean here in south florida, or are there only certain types that are safe.

[RicksReefs]

you do want to research any algae BEFORE
you put it in your tank. some algae, like Dictyota,
are nice looking algae, but can go nuts, smothering
corals & such.
local types i'd recommend are the Caulerpas, red Gracilaria,
red Gracilarus, Halimedas, udotea,ulva (tang food),
& a few others i can't think of at the moment.
i'll post a couple of links in a minute for ya.

[GDW]

Greetings jimsta,

NO macroalgae will grow for you without lights.

Macroalgae in the sump (... an excellent idea, usually ...) can do some positive things for your system, but they need have their basic requirements met like everything else in your tank.

HTH,
GDW

[RicksReefs]

i think he means Normal Output (NO) flourescents. ;)

[RicksReefs]

here's a little reading for you. ;) :D

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/caulerpaalg.htm

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/greenalg.htm

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/redalgae.htm

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brnalgae.htm

[ChrisB]

:rollface: :rollface: :rollface:

[jimsta]

interesting

[rspar]

So you macro growers other than water parameters improving what other benefits have you seen? Reduction in nuisance algae? Less glass cleaning?

[RicksReefs]

a definate reduction in nuisance algae, the glass stuff,
a little, bit but it's still on the honey do list. you also get
a large increase in the pod population, ready supply of
tang food, & a general overall warm fuzzy feeling :D

[jimsta]

A piece of LR in my tank has just burst out caulerpa mexicana, it is growing everywhere. Is this any better than the feather stuff? Also I found a place that sells Caulerpa Prolifera, and i like the look of that stuff, but again, is it any good

[RicksReefs]

all the caulerpas are good at DOC removal. the more
they grow the more 'stuff' they're taking out. thay
all have the potential to really take over if not pruned
regularly. (which also helps to keep it from going sexual).

[taco]

I saw Caulerpa (feather) go sexual in one of my tanks the other day. I was amazed at how a small amount of the macro could make the water so green! Needless to say, I did a water change right away!

[RicksReefs]

instant phyto ;)

[McBeck]

IME, feather caulerpa will grow like a weed. :) I had a handful take over a 30gal sump rather quickly. It was just in my sump, but I didn't care for the looks after it really started growing out. I ended up phasing it out with grape caulerpa, which became unbelievably thick. Really helped my pod population.

I ultimately moved to a large sump and phased out the grape with some grass. I have no idea what flavor I ended up with. Of the three, the grass is really my favorite. It spreads nicely but isn't as thick as the others. I think it's more attractive, even if it is living in a sump.

As for the benefits, I don't skim, never have, and my nitrates are at zero.

[Plantbrain]

Many issues with Caulerpa going sexual are often traced to the biomass vs the nutrient supply.

A reduction in feeding of the fish/inverts can cause this. Not enough
"food" for the algae=> they go sexual to make it through tough times.

Too much biomass of macro algae can cause this(removes all the nutrients so that the plants eat themselves out of house and home then starve)=> too few nutrients, they go sexual to make it through tough times.

A good balance will grow these plants well so good consistent feeding routine, prune to keep the biomass balanced with the NO3 level.

A little N is fine, you only need ONE limiting nutrient, PO4 is very often the nutrient of choice as dosing NO3/iron/traces/Ca etc has not caused noxious algae blooms.

So some nutrients can be higher, 0 ppm of NO3 etc is very often bad and folks will often see a pattern of their refugiums doing well, the algae growing like nuts, then later after all the nutrients have been removed, and you have a huge biomass of algae, the system starves itself and crashes.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[Paladin]

Originally posted by McBeck
I ultimately moved to a large sump and phased out the grape with some grass.
I'm in the process of building a refugium for the purpose of reducing nitrates. Is grass a good choice for this? And is there a place I can order online to get some?

[Plantbrain]

Grass will not remove much nutrients and may import nutrients actually from the substrate and through PS into the water column if not actively growing and stable.

There are several retailer's around.


Regards,
Tom Barr

[ChrisB]

Plantbrain,

What is your favorite plant for export in a refugium or main tank?

What about when you have 24/7 lighting in the fuge?