Last week my LFS gave me a handful of chaeto and a handful of grape caulerpa for my refugium. In doing a little research online I have found quite a bit of bad new surrounding caulerpa. My question is should I keep them both, or trash the caulerpa and just use chaeto. Or I could slowly feed it all to my foxface. Thanks
Chaeto and caulerpa?
- Thread starter ALreefer
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partypalooza5
Member
I have chaeto, grape caulerpa, and some sort of other macro algae (didn't get the name) all in my fuge. From what I'm seeing, having those two algaes doesn't really cause much of a problem (or at least they haven't become a problem yet...)
Problems like being banned in some places for being an invasive species? Or bad like when the caulerpa goes sexual and releases it's store nutrients like nitrates?
I have caulerpa and do well with it. Lighting and trimming keep it in check. Makes a great macro algae filter. Done wonders to remove stray nutrients from my tanks.
I have caulerpa and do well with it. Lighting and trimming keep it in check. Makes a great macro algae filter. Done wonders to remove stray nutrients from my tanks.
I am not really worried about it being an invasive species because I live in north Alabama, so not really anywhere has a chance to live outside of my tank. I was a bit worried about it releasing nitrates into the tank if it goes sexual. Anybody actually had bad experiences with grape caulerpa releasing nutrient back into the tank? Or is it more along the lines of it COULD happen, but usually doesn't? I know very little is guaranteed in this hobby, but being new I am still a bit cautious about what I do.
Caulerpa was, at one time, considered the "ideal" macro algae for a reef system. Over the years, there have been some problems with it being an invasive species. It is illegal to keep in some states. CA comes to mind.
Yes, it can go sexual, and die in your system, but at long as you keep an eye on it you'll be fine. When this happens, you'll see the algae become much lighter in color, and if not removed, goes almost transparent and dies. All you need to do is weed it bag from time to time, and if you see a strand that is not as dark as it once was, remove it. Don't remove the light green new growth.
Yes, it can go sexual, and die in your system, but at long as you keep an eye on it you'll be fine. When this happens, you'll see the algae become much lighter in color, and if not removed, goes almost transparent and dies. All you need to do is weed it bag from time to time, and if you see a strand that is not as dark as it once was, remove it. Don't remove the light green new growth.
I've been fine as well with the grape caulerpa. Actually I couldn't get the chaeto to grow in my refugium and maybe it doesn't like the bulb?? I light the refugium 24 hours a day. I believe that also prevents it from going sexual. I threw the chaeto out because it wasn't doing anything, and harvested all the grape caulerpa from my tank and threw it in the refugium and will harvest it often. Agreed with keeping an eye on it...and you'll be fine. Given how fast it grows, it probably takes a lot of nutrients out of the water.
i want to bump this up because i got the same question and just looking for some new answers about this algea. i got some grape calurpa that has just been growing in my tank i have put some in my fuge with my cheato and was wondering if it was a good idea to do? i still have time to remove it so let me know thanks
Reef Commando
Member
I have both in my sump.
Exactly how much it does for water parameters, I don't know. Bear in mind I have two tanks with the same parameters for the main 3 plus phosphate, on with the algae and one with out. This would lead me to side on the advice of my LFS. if you want to use algae for water quality then you will need a sump 10 times bigger than your tank, at least. Other than that it is useful for sanctuary.
Exactly how much it does for water parameters, I don't know. Bear in mind I have two tanks with the same parameters for the main 3 plus phosphate, on with the algae and one with out. This would lead me to side on the advice of my LFS. if you want to use algae for water quality then you will need a sump 10 times bigger than your tank, at least. Other than that it is useful for sanctuary.
the grape calurpa that was moved from my main display to my refugium has just turn white . i just removed it and dumped it in the trash i guess cheato will do fine. i already had cheato for the past year so guess ill be fine with it . i still dont know how it got into my tank its weird it just strated growing