Managing MacroAlgae

[CompulsiveAqua]

My refugium has alot of light, 130 watt PC's for a 20g. As you could guess my caluerpa is growing rampant. I have seen the grape caluerpa with the large grapes, but the kind I have has small ones....does anyone know the latin name for it? Anywho...i've read alot about maint. on macroalgae...well, trimming it to be exact. Can anyone give me a schedule for trimming it back? Underneath and mixed in I get alot of transparent, I'm guessing dead or dying caluerpa. I'm kinda moving the live stuff around and using a net to remove the old stuff...is that the best way, because it's a pain? Can I take it out and swish it in a bucket of SW or something? And I've also read that the nitrates that the MA uses to grow can be put back into your system if you let it go too long (possibly why I have the transparent stuff floating around). Nitrates are 0, but having an acan, clam, and a teeny-tiny acropora (new), I am trying to keep my water perfect. Drop me a line guys.

[Phurst]

You'll need to keep it pruned such that it all gets sufficient light, or, as you have found out, some of it will die off. Indeed, the stuff that dies will release nutrients back into the water. Have you considered ditching the caluerpa in favor of cheato? Caluerpa has lots of drawbacks that cheato doesn't, and it's a little easier to maintain IMO.

[CompulsiveAqua]

The only Cheato I have found is online...and I'm kinda staying away from the online purchase thing for a while..things are bad here, 3 major LFS's closed this past year.

[Phurst]

Man, that's a bummer. I'll send you some if you like.

[CompulsiveAqua]

You'll need to keep it pruned such that it all gets sufficient light, or, as you have found out, some of it will die off. Indeed, the stuff that dies will release nutrients back into the water. Have you considered ditching the caluerpa in favor of cheato? Caluerpa has lots of drawbacks that cheato doesn't, and it's a little easier to maintain IMO.

Another question...what is considered "nutrient"...is it anything that cause poor water quality...or is it somethng more specific?

[Phurst]

Primarily nitrate and phosphate, but there are other minor nutrients as well. Caluerpa had the added disadvantage of releasing a mild toxin when pruned or dying.

[CompulsiveAqua]

Ya.. the one store has all marine and it's taken a year and a half for the owner to even be approachable. The other store's tanks are green and I can count on sometimes two hand all the fish that have "ich"...bummer is right...maybe if we trade on some zoas I'll take you up on the offer, I don't want you to go out of your way. Thanks, though.

[CarmieJo]

I am guessing that what you have is Caulerpa lentillifera but could be C racemosa. This site How to tell apart seaweeds that look like grapes on the Shores of Singapore (http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/plants/seaweed/chlorophyta/cfgrapes.htm) should help.

I think that cheato is easier to take care of than caulerpa. I have found though that caulerpa grows faster. I prune it weekly by just removing part of it and light it 24/7. The clearish/whitish portions are dying and releasing nutrients back into your tank.

I would also look into joining C-SEA. I was a member clear back in the 80's when we lived in OH and really enjoyed it. Clubs are great sources of frags as well as macros. :)

[CompulsiveAqua]

I am the only SW aquarists at CAS. Kinda sucks. Thank CJ that info will work beautifully.

[CarmieJo]

I am talking about Welcome to C-SEA - Cleveland Saltwater Enthusiasts Association (http://www.c-sea.org/) which is only SW.

[CompulsiveAqua]

Really???? AND WHY DIDN'T THEY TELL ME ABOUT THEM WHEN i WAS AT A CAS MEETING...THEY JUST WANTED MY TEN BUCKS.....Thank you sooo much CJ!

[CarmieJo]

I can't speak for now but back when I was a member it was a wonderful club. This was in the early to mid 80's when SW was a relatively rare hobby.

[THEJRC]

Caulerpa gets a bad name due to poor pruning and it's habit of going sexual when there is a lack of nutrients,

for the purpose of macro algaes nutrients include Nitrates, ammonia (for many as they can process it), Iodine, iodate, iron, Phosphates, and a whole host of other traces. Most people experience caulerpa going sexual due to lack of carbon dioxide or lack of iodate.

In any case, the clear caulerpa you see at the bottom means one of two things, either it has been deprived of light so long that the chlorophyl has migrated or died off (bad sign), or it has gone sexual (also perhaps a bad sign). A good rule of thumb is to think of it as hair, if you can run your fingers through it without catching and your not noticing clearing of the lower leaves your okay, as soon as it starts to get real thick start pruning. Prune in different spots every time and prune as often as you feel necessary.

Caulerpa when given the right nutrients will run rampant, and is really pound for pound one of the best nutrient sponges If Excess is removed!!! I cant stress that any more. I'ts important to realize that you must not let it run short of nutrients or it will go sexual in an attempt to spread itself to another area where it may receive more nutrients. In the ocean this works, in our tanks it releases a number of nutrients that are typically seen in trace amounts... this is where the "toxin" release thought comes from.

While I myself use caulerpa and find it aesthetically pleasing many have switched to chaetomorpha as it tends to do just as good of a job at nutrient removal but does not go sexual and release nutrients. It's a judgement call you the hobbyist will have to make. Should you decide to continue using it, it's not as bad as some may point it out to be. Keep it trimmed back and keep an eye on your iodine and iodate levels. If you keep it trimmed and it does go sexual you wont have such a rampant nutrient spike and the damage will be lessened (if any at all). If you let it outcompete itself and it's a massive bunch, you may find yourself with some nice dark green water and a quick task of many many water changes.

[almondsaz]

I was drawn to caulerpa prolifera because I like the look of it in the fuge. I leave the light on 24/7 to help avoiding it going sexual. About every month I have to cull about 1/3 of it becuase it grows so fast. For me it adds another dimesion to the fuge - you can see all manner of fauna from the baby bristles, asternia's, isopods (good ones), copepods and amphipods - I have lots of mysid shrimp as well and the occasional aptasia. I put in some nasarius snails to keep the sand stirred. I do use Chaeto in my amphipods tank as they like it better than other macros. I also found that if you aren't able to keep Chaeto rolling it collects a lot of debris. Everything has its positives and its negatives which makes it personal choice as to what you should use. They all have their side effects.