Halimeda on my LR

[askwines]

The haimeda came on some LR I purchased a few months ago.
I thought it would die off as the LR cured.
It hasn't, but it also doesn't seem to be overtaking anything.
Is there anything I should be on the look out for.
Do I need to periodically cut it back?
I have a small refugium and could put some cuttings in there.
Do you cut or pull it out from the rock?

Thanks for the comments as always.

Alan

 

[GTR]

I keep some in all my tanks and have never had any problems with it. It will grow preety fast with high calcium levels. In the main tank a prefer to keep in in the sandbed as it's easier to keep trimmed back. If it spreads on your LR you can just grab it by the base and pull it like a weed. Sometimes you can get it all, other times it will regrow.

In my frag tanks I just let it grow until there is just to much of it and then just harvest every piece I can get. It always grows back though.

Many don't like it because of the amount of calcium it's percieved to use. For my what's another tsp or two of calcium chloride.

Steve U

 

[jer77]

I personally love it. Its no grape caulerpa. Its way easy to harvest out of any tank unless your tank is taller than about 24''. Don't be afraid to get your hands wet and move some sand and rocks around.

There are worries of it going sexual and it all dying but this rarely happens and mostly its just turned into aragonite. It doesn't chemically harm its neighbors but may release noxious stuff when pruned. If you really don't like it I would suggest tearing most of it out by its roots and getting a GFO filter. If you doubly really hate it try a biopellet reactor or by dosing vodka, vinegar or some carbon source. That will remove its source of nutrients and all the calcium in the ocean couldn't make it grow.

If you want to know more read on, if not its cool:
There are 5-6 kinds at least as species go. About half like sandbeds and have more extensive roots and the other like rock and have less rooting. As said by GTR it eats up your calcium cause its mainly composed of it. So it slows coral growth, especially sps. And adding enough CaCl to overcome your losses adds up especially in a large tank. Plus it can overgrow any coral cause it also uses nitrates, phosphates and other DIM & DOM mainly through its root system. It can also slow your overall flow in a tank if there is enough of it. It also traps larger particles of food or waste that you want to get to your skimmer.

Now the upside to Halimeda growth either in your main display or your refugium is just that fact that it consumes unwanted nutrients at a very productive rate. Again its no Caulerpa racemosa, but it will still help keep nitrates and phos down. But it is essential you learn how and when to prune or cut it back. Without harvesting it all the nutrients won't leave your tank. You can cut it instead of uprooting it. This will encourage a more robust or fuller mat of it by leaving the roots intact and may kill less of it.

It all depends on what type of tank you want to keep. I wouldn't suggest it in an overwhelmingly stony coral tank like on TOTM. But if you are just keeping clams and soft corals then some Halimeda may brighten up your tank! It just needs to be pruned to keep it from taking up too much light.

Wow! These links are from years ago, well maybe someone will read it...

 

[ladyshark]

I just read it, very helpful!