Is Caulerpa going sexual toxic to fish?

[Nathan]

I had a bunch of caulerpa go sexual in my tank. Made the water very green and I couldn't see past about 1 foot of water it was that bad.

Shortly after that my trigger fish stopped eating and was not looking well. He ended up dieing even after I tried hand feeding him.

Do any of you know if the caulerpa going sexual might have had anything to do with the demise of my trigger? Or maybe it died of other causes. No other fish or organisms appear to be stressed out....

-Nathan

[tankedagain]

I've heard it was in other posts but I had the same thing happen...I chnaged the water and the next day my caulerpa basically melted and the water went green...I just chnaged the water and everything cleared up in a few days.

[aclos3]

I don't know about the toxicity, but I would maybe consider switching to chaeto. From what I hear it is a lot safer in that regard and performs the same fuction.

Were you keeping light over your culerpa 24/7? I hear that keeps it from going sexual.

Sorry to hear about your fish loss, that is never fun.

[trippyl]

trimming it also keeps it from going sexual.

I've had caulrepa do that on me many times, some times, the amount of caulrepa was huge. Never had even one issue, no fatality, no heavy breathing, nothing. fish pretty much ignored it. I have a 75.

[Nathan]

Thanks for your responses.

I tried cheato but my sump isn't very ideal for it to grow and in the main tank it gets all broken up.

The caulerpa that went sexual was growing in my main tank with standard day/night light cycles.

-Nathan

[MrSpiffy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8372314#post8372314 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Nathan
Thanks for your responses.

I tried cheato but my sump isn't very ideal for it to grow and in the main tank it gets all broken up.

The caulerpa that went sexual was growing in my main tank with standard day/night light cycles.

-Nathan

That would probably be why. I've heard if you don't keep caulerpa lit 24/7 it will eventually go sexual. At least with chaeto, you don't need to light it all the time. That's why it's recommended if you don't want to or can't light it at all times.

[Amphiprion]

Some Caulerpa species tend to produce a toxin (caulerpenyne), but you don't usually see horribly toxic effects. More likely, however, the spores that are released during 'sexual' episodes (sporulation) do deplete the oxygen in the water because of their locomotive action. This seems to be a more likely circumstance, though I do suspect that some toxins are released in sporulation. That is why waterchanges are a good alternative to helping the situation.

[Nathan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8373639#post8373639 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Amphiprion
... do deplete the oxygen in the water because of their locomotive action...

Man. I never even thought about that... I did have my skimmer on but I guess it may not have been enough...

Well that's the end of my caulerpa keeping. That stuff is too dangerous for me.

-Nathan