Red Grape Caulerpa & Cactus Stalk Halimeda

[daveverdo]

Hey,

I just got some Red Grape Caulerpa & Cactus Stalk Halimeda from reeftopia.com.
I am putting them in the display tank.

Is there anything special I need to do with these when I put them in the tank?

What is the best way to put them in?

Where is a good place relative to powerheads, lights, etc?

Thanks,
Dave

[rcollick]

Imo I wouldnt add caulerpa to my display tank. If this stuff is anything like the feather caulerpa it can spread like wild fire. Trust me I put caulerpa in my fuge and now I have some in my display tank. If you are trying to take out excess nutrients get a fuge. For your size tank you could get away with a hob fuge. I have one on my 38 gallon and it works great.

[techigirl78]

I wouldn't put the caulerpa in the display either. My fiance' did it and I had to get a tang to rid the tank of it. Halimeda doesn't cause me any problems. Is yours attached to a rock already?

[daveverdo]

There is what looks like a root ball at the bottom of the Halimeda but it is not attached to any rock.

The Red Grape is not actually a caulerpa, actually it is unrelated.

Dave

[Samala]

Halimeda can be stuck in the sand or to the rockwork, via rubber bands or frag glue. If it has a root ball it sounds like it may have come from the sand initially.

The red grape "caulerpa" is, as mentioned, not an actual Caulerpa species. Its a red macroalgae, typically we like to guess its in the Botryocladia genus but there are other look alikes that may fit the ID better. This one is good for crevices and rockwork. I would place them were they can get good flow, but not be carried away. Water disturbance isnt too critical with seaweeds, just enough to keep the boundary layers disrupted and good nutrient amounts coming to them.

>Saah