Experience with Acetabularia?

[Samala]

Acetabularia calyculus, macroalgae, really gorgeous, indigenous to the Caribbean. Sometimes ref'd as mermaid's wine glass/cup or saucer. And that's about all I know about it. So far Gulf Coast hasnt had it in stock for ages.

Anyone know a good source for this gorgeous macro?

Or, even more to the point, I'd like to hear some experience with it, what it likes for light, current, nutrient requirements (I can dream right)? Even simple things like if it has holdfasts and encrusts on rocks, or if it grows in the substrate? Does the colony form off a rhizome or are they single stalks and only form in groups? How does it reproduce new stalks/leafs/cups? Approximate size - a few inches, less than an inch? Is it soft and mushy out of water or is it pretty tough stuff and hold its own shape?

Even if you had it ages ago and it just went ker-plop in your system and didnt survive more than few weeks I'd like to hear some battle stories.

(And if, by chance, someone has it, I'll gladly trade some stargrass for it.)

Thanks guys -
>Sarah

 

[chuck2]

Sarah,

Here's my limited experience with it: Very lightly calcified crowns, soft stalks. Wants a lot of light, moderate current. Very prone to being overrun by nuisance hair algae (loses the war on this fast) and can't handle being brushed/scraped clean. Snails will go through the stalks like an NFL linebacker through a Sizzler salad bar.
Fairly slow reproduction. . . stalks grow up like slender blades of grass. . . crowns form afterward. Needs a hard base to grab onto. . . stalks will ultimately form clusters on the rock to which it's attached. My original colony got overrun with algae. . . I've since rectified water conditions, and a single stalk, which I'm hoping to repopulate with, has shown up in my macro display tank. If it's not getting enough light, stalks will get overly long. I got mine from Floridapets.com. . . low cost, plus shipping. . . however it's going to come through with a lot of 'wildlife'. . . and I almost killed all of my entire colony off with a ten minute freshwater dip at the outset. It REALLY didn't like that. I'd probably go for QT without a dip. Needs iron and sufficient calcium. All in all, the finickiest macro I've tried. . . but perhaps the most interesting. Hope this helps. . .

Chuck

P.S. I think right about now is typically when it becomes available. For some reason, it tends to be unavailable till about May/June. . . but that may have more to do with harvesting regulations than anything biological.

 

[Samala]

That helps a lot, thanks so much Chuck! I'd really like to try some when my tank is considered totally stable. Right now I havent had any issues with a lot of microalgae, a few diatoms hiccup here and there and some green algae that likes the glass. I dont have any snails.. wasnt planning on them. I wonder if I could get away with this macro afterall. Course, things are sure to unravel when the seahorses arrive later this summer, so maybe I should wait even longer on attempting this species.

Again, thanks Chuck! Helps a lot.
>Sarah

 

[chuck2]

Sarah,

You should have your work cut out for you. I've never kept them. . . but have heard seahorses are 'messy eaters'. . . so you'd better have the skimmer tuned up, especially if your total volume is small. Some of these macros seem less tolerant of high nitrates than the less-fussy corals. On the flip side, I think I finally got my water parameters so good that one nitrate tolerating (requiring???) macro has failed to thrive (ulva). When nothing else was growing well, it was growing like a weed. Now that everything else is thriving, it can't make enough 'headway' to keep ahead of erosion by nightly microfauna-munching.

Chuck