Grape caulpera?

[CoralReeferGal]

I'm seeing mixed opinions lol... is this stuff beneficial or a nuisance? What's the best thing to mow it down, if it's nuisance? I was told a tang or an urchin, but were afraid of an urchin knocking frags off that are glued to our rockwork. Any tips or advice?

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

The roots/rhizomes will attach to your live rock and proliferate given optimum conditions and when that happens it will be really hard to get rid of it.

 

[Imaexpat2]

Yeah what they said above. Dont do it!!! Not even in your sump!!! There are much better less invasive types of Macro Algae available for use. Cheato being one of them and Dragons Breath being yet another. Tangs typically wont eat it unless they are really desperate for food. Urchins will not only eat algae they will also eat the pretty purple stuff you are trying to grow on your rocks too! I use Dragons Breath in my sumps for nutrient removal. Cheato is probably faster growing and more efficient but I like the look of the Dragons Breath much more. Some states such as California, Cualpera is actually illegal to have due to its invasiveness and lack of predators that will eat it. There are a couple of estuaries north of San Diego that have been over ran by this already. That right there alone should tell you all you need to know about that stuff!

 

[CoralReeferGal]

Yeah what they said above. Dont do it!!! Not even in your sump!!! There are much better less invasive types of Macro Algae available for use. Cheato being one of them and Dragons Breath being yet another. Tangs typically wont eat it unless they are really desperate for food. Urchins will not only eat algae they will also eat the pretty purple stuff you are trying to grow on your rocks too! I use Dragons Breath in my sumps for nutrient removal. Cheato is probably faster growing and more efficient but I like the look of the Dragons Breath much more. Some states such as California, Cualpera is actually illegal to have due to its invasiveness and lack of predators that will eat it. There are a couple of estuaries north of San Diego that have been over ran by this already. That right there alone should tell you all you need to know about that stuff!

We already have it not sure where it came from- actually thought it was bubble algae at first! So how do we get of it, now that its in our DT?? Is picking it all out by hand the most efficient way?

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

We already have it not sure where it came from- actually thought it was bubble algae at first! So how do we get of it, now that its in our DT?? Is picking it all out by hand the most efficient way?

Yep, or you can take to rock it and scrub the roots off with a toothbrush.

 

[Imaexpat2]

Get rid of the rock!!! Put it in the freezer for a couple of days bring back to room temp and throw it back in the tank. Thats the path of least resistance. Other options is what Sugar Magnolia suggested although it may take a couple of attempts to get it all off! If you miss so much as one sliver of its root system, it will grow back.

This used to be a very common macro algae for those running sumps and refugiums back in the early 2000's despite its known invasiveness. It grows like gang busters and grows fast and made for good nutirent up take. To keep it from "melting" or going asexual on you We used to keep the sump lights on 24/7 to minimize this from happening and trashing the water quality and spreading to everything the sump is connected to. There are several threads on this subject if you do a search and look back at some older post.

Like I said if you want Macro Algae in your tanks system, Dragons Breath, "Cheato", and Gracilaria are your best bets in my opinion. Dragons Breath can be grown in the display. The other two are best grown in your sump with Cheato being the most populat hands down. Tangs and other herbavoures will relish the Gracilaria with wreckless abandon!

 

[Imaexpat2]

Red Mangroves can be an effective Nutrient removal plant and one that can be kinda of decrotive as well. These are best grown in sumps and HOB Refugiums. They are trees though and grow very slow and be really effective but you need one for about every 10-15 gallons of tank capacity. Despite being trees, they can be pruned and work really well as its there extensive root system that does all the nutrient up take. I used to have a 55 gallon poly trough that I used as a external refugium on my 125 gallon that sat on my kitchen bar that I also had a couple of Clams in. It worked very well and was almost as stunning as the SPS corals in the 125 were! You will have to mist the "bushes" every day or two with RO/DI water to remove the salt or they will die. This is accomplished by mother nature with frequent rain showers in the wild. I believe on youtube Mike Paletta has a cube tank or simular sized tank with a single mangrove about 3 ft growing out of it thats pretty snazzy looking. Its something different.

 

[Sk8r]

x2 on caulerpa of any type being bad---in my personal experience being far, far worse than aiptasia, hydroids, vermetids, or anything I've ever had to deal with.

 

[Imaexpat2]

x2 on caulerpa of any type being bad---in my personal experience being far, far worse than aiptasia, hydroids, vermetids, or anything I've ever had to deal with.

Id have a very tough time of trying to argue that point with you...even Bryopsis is less of a pain to deal with!!!

 

[bryknicks]

That stuff is the devil. A very small piece came in on a frag I got, it took two years and two different systems until I finally got rid of it. I ended up with an urchin that mowed it down. Manual remove would leave invisible traces of it that would regrow and spread.

 

[glyn]

An old-style aquarist defends a much-misunderstood algae

An old-style aquarist defends a much-misunderstood algae

I'm one of those old-style aquarists who've always grown grape caulerpa for nutrient control. Love the stuff! It's easy to get going, and when it's escaped into the display tank, then my yellow tang and regal angel have made short work of it. It also feeds my nostalgia for the 1980s of marine fishkeeping, with wooden airstone-driven skimmers and salt mixes that would take several months to dissolve...

However, it does, [as suggested above] need 24/7 lighting - to stop it going sexual, and thus collapsing into a white mass. In addition, if you don't have any angels or tangs, then its escape into the display area can lead to fretful feelings and marine reefer anguish.

Chaeto also grows in my sump, interwoven with the grape caulerpa, but only outgrows the grape caulerpa if I dial up the sump flow to very high levels.

Despite my fondness for grape caulerpa, I suppose it's not a good move for beginner reefers. Better to get strong flow in your macro-algae section of your sump and start off with chaeto.