Caulerpa sertulariodes dieing

abugjo

New member
I am new to the saltwter hobby I have had African cichlids for over 10 years but decided to set up a saltwater tank to grow CAULERPA* SERTULARIODES. I setup a 20 gallon tank with a HOB skimmer and some rock I am running a 2x24W T5 fixture with 6700k bulbs in it. I purchased the caullerpa about 3 weeks ago it seemed like it was growing well under the filter return so I added a power head to the other side thinking the flow was not strong enough but now it is turning tranparent so I am cutting those sections off. I have also experianced a cyno bloom which I am now treating with chemiclean. I am hopping that once the cyno is erradicated the plants will be healthier but I am also thinking that the plants dieing off cuased the cyno. Kind of a catch 22.Was just wondering if anyone had some advice on how to keep the caulerpa from dieing off or maybe some thought on my lighting choice? Thanks for any advise
 
Transparent sound's like it was going sexual, not dying...chime clean should be a last resort for cyans, and new tanks always go through it...its a "normal" part of the cycle of a new tank..
hth
 
Came home last night and the tank was really cloudy PH was good and the fish seemed to not be showing any signes of stress. I removed any of the Caulerpa that looked like it was dieing and we will see what happens today. Thanks for the response spiezak maybe I am just rushing things. My wife says I worry to much so I guess we will wait and see what happens.
 
how can you keep it from going sexual?
Mine has did this 3 times, the first time I was told to do 75-100 water change or every thing would die,I did .A few months later it did it again, I was away from home so no water got changed, nothing happened, or got sick.So it has been a year and it did it again about 3 mo. ago I did not do anything all my fish and corals were fine.
But how can I keep it from doing it, every time I get a lot growing it goes sexual and i lose it all again!

Sorry for highjacking your thread!
 
It does it when nutrients/light/whatever aren't to its liking and its dna tells it "It's time to move on, cause there's gotta be a better place to grow than this."
 
the worst thing you can do is leave your lights on 24/7. the ideal would be to have it on a reverse schedule from your display tank. I've got a good bit of experience with caulerpa and 2 things i know will make it go sexual is too much caulerpa than what the system needs, and too much light will bleach it and make it go sexual. the key to keeping this stuff successfully is to not overload the sump with it. start out with less than what you would think you would need and let it grow out and keep it pruned back when it looks like it is slowing down growing. I get about half an inch of growth per day out the stalks right now and my nitrates have went down 10 points in one week.
 
Many people run caulerpa under 24-7 light cycle with no issues. The light isn't what bleaches it, it's the fact that it doesn't stop growing and if you run into nutrient holes it will start dying.
 
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