Anyone growing [i]Hypnea cervicornis[/i] or any other [i]Hypena[/i] sp.?

[kmk2307]

I was wondering if anyone was growing Hypnea as a nutrient export algae. If so could you post about your experience with it? Does it grow fast? What kind of lighting is it growing under? Has it ever gone sexual?

Thanks!
Kevin

 

[horge]

Just my limited experience:

Hypnea grows pretty fast, but its rather gristly consistency and dense branching make neat harvests more difficult than with a soft, looser-branching macro. The inevitable loose bits and frags that drift/fall away each harvest wind up where you don't want them ---still in the system.

Same problem with Acanthophora, an even faster grower, though these devils will ruin your display in very short order if you're not careful. One of the all-time PITA's, in my book.

Without robust current, both [Hypnea] and Acanthophora can become epiphytized and filmed over, and degenerate into icky gunk traps... Both are tolerant of weaker lighting, and Hypnea seems to grow faster in cooler temps



There's another thread here that I posted to just minutes ago, about a tank overrun with what I suspect is Hypnea

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=253136

 

[kmk2307]

Hey Horge,

Thanks for the reply. I was trying to see if I could find any algae that looked like what that fellow in the other thread so I looked up rhodophyta and saw that on an algae website and I thought it looked really interesting. Thanks for the info!

Kevin