feeding tangs caulerpa algae from refugium?

[evokevin]

i was curious as if it was ok to feed my tangs (desjardini sailfin, regal, and kole), the caulerpa algae from my refugium. i have given a few "leaves" to the sailfin and he gobbled them up quickly.

since my fuge is in need of a trimming, i figured i could feed it to them as a live food instead of the dried seaweed.


i also understand that the idea is waste export, and taking the algae out is removing the waste, but i still have to feed the fish which requires putting more green stuff back in. so if they eat it (and is it ok for them?), am i ok in thinking they would enjoy it?

 

[MCCOOL]

From my understanding, most types of caulerpa are mildly toxic. A little here and there won't hurt anything but it shouldn't be a substitute for the dried seaweed.

 

[TampaReefer79]

I've always fed my tangs grape calurpa from my fuge. It's a big cycle, you trim the calurpa and feed it to the tangs, they filter what they need from it and produce waste, which in turn grows you more calurpa. Free food I always say...

 

[sedor]

A lot of fish won't touch cheato, but if yours are eating it, then I say why not.

 

[evokevin]

is there any truth to it being toxic? or is that something that is passed on via internet as truth? if it is, i'll stay away from feeding it.

i'm increasing my fuge size soon so maybe i'll try the grape caulerpa. thanks for the idea tampareefer

 

[TampaReefer79]

Pulling from my butt pack of facts...

The problem most have with the calurpa is that it can gain a foothold in the display and take over and is almost impossible to ever get rid of completely. I never had this problem and could care less if it DID start to grow, as it would be eaten by my tangs anyway. I've read articles about the disadvantages vs advantages of calurpa and think the good outweighs the bad. I grew it continously for years and never had a problem. I know I didn't answer your 'toxic' question, but I don't think it's toxic in the way you're thinking the word can be interpreted. Think of it this way, if it is so 'toxic' to your tanks inhabitants, isn't it sharing the same water as your display anyway? Any toxicness (is that a word?) would travel from your calurpa in your fuge to your main display anyway. So go ahead and feed it. I'm sure this topic is touched upon in the REFUGIUM, GOOD BAD AND UGLY thread...but good luck sifting through it's 1 billion posts to find the info. LOL

 

[sedor]

I remember hearing that caulerpa was actually banned from a lot of different states because of its overwhelming reproductive nature. Apparently they were afraid it would somehow spread out into the wild and damage the ecosystem. Then again, maybe that was all just rumor.

 

[AuroraDrvr]

I remember hearing that caulerpa was actually banned from a lot of different states because of its overwhelming reproductive nature. Apparently they were afraid it would somehow spread out into the wild and damage the ecosystem. Then again, maybe that was all just rumor.

California is the only state (IIRC) that has a ban on some types of Caulerpa.

 

[Untamed12]

I feed the harvested caulerpa to my tangs. Mostly, my Nasos love it. I trim the long branches and only feed the smaller, "leafy", bits. I've noticed that they don't digest it really well because it comes out with similar shape to when it went in (green colour removed!).

 

[evokevin]

^excellent. the time i fed my tangs the little bit was only the leavy sections as well. i figured they wouldn't eat the stems... i'll give it a try with a little bit of it some more tonight.

 

[The Unforgiven]

caulerpa is toxic to sps corals a small amount of caulerpa can kill a colony within minutes you are lucky your tangs eat it.