Halimeda Plant Questions

[ChrisMiddleton]

Hi I currently bought some Florida live rock which was loaded with alot of life and plants on it. My tank is 3 weeks in cycling though I have gotten brown algea and in some areas red algea. I had really good Halimeda Plant growth which was growing about 2 weeks since I first got it. It grew about an inch. Yesterday it has gotten alot of brown algea on it and this morning I turned on my light and it is a really bright white color. From dark green to brown. My water levels are fine. Would the algea stop the light from hitting the plant and kill it? Would algea kill the plant? My sponges and coral seems to be feesing and loving the algea but the plants the algea covered seem to be dying. Is this normal when algea gets on plants? Thanks, Chris

 

[Frick-n-Frags]

Halimeda also can just die. Even though it is part of the Caulerpa family and can go sexual (you will see the bright green smooth covering re-differentiate itself into a bunch of tiny dark green spheres which will soon release into the water column) often, just like any other plant, it just shuts down. The remains is just its white calcerous skeleton.

Yes algae can kill other algae, but often algae will grow on another one that is already dying, especially nutrient swines like cyano and brown slime that grow because of the release of nutrients by the dying algae.

I would guess, that since your tank is only 3 weeks old, the macro algae (which need decent water unlike many of the micros) is probably dying on its own because of currently unsatisfactory conditions in your tank for it to survive.

But don't bum, the odds are very good that they will come back in a month or two after the initial dieoff and the tank settles down some more. At that time they will indicate that the conditions are now suitable for their survival.

 

[sjvl51]

All algae (plants) need light to produce their food so, yes, the algae could be killing the Halimeda. You say your "water levels are fine" which doesn't tell me much.

From The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium Vol 1 - "If there are enough calcium ions available in the coral reef aquarium, which is an absolute necessity for Halimeda, they may grow so intensely that it becomes necessary to thin out the colony from time to time so that the invertebrates aren't overgrown. On the other hand it will hardly be possible to keep Halimeda spp. in aquarium water that is rech in nitrate and phosphate.

"Very often you see them on steep reef slopes where they are protected against intense sunlight. Some species also grow in dense clusters in the intense solar radiation of the shallow reef flat zone. Large areas of the bottom of lagoons may also be covered with green calcareous algae. Some species, e.g. Halimeda copiosa, H. cryptica and H. gracilis from the Caribbean are found there as deep down as 150 m. Most of the species, however, grow at depths between 0 and 30 m."

FWIW - My Halimeda died when the tank was new. Now, over a year later, I noticed that I have 3 strands starting to grow again! I think the stable water conditions is the cause for the regrowth.

HTH

Vickie

 

[ChrisMiddleton]

Something weird happened. I woke up turned on the light and the plant was mostly white. Now the light as been on it a while it is a decent green again. Hrrrm Here are some pictures of the algea and stuff like that.

Is that brown / redish algea bad algea? Or normal as the tank cycles?

The plant on top has alot of algea and some new growth but underneeth it is a deep green still

Tests I did July 24
Gravity 1.022 1.023
Nitrate 1
Nitrite 0.1
Ammonia 0.0
Ph 8.2
Calcium 500

July 26

Gravity 1.022 1.023
Nitrate 3-5 not much
Nitrite 0.2
Ammonia 0.0
Ph 8.0
Calcium 600+

What do yall think caused the ph to drop and nitrite raise? Should I be worried how should I control it? Thanks, CHris

 

[Frick-n-Frags]

Oh, yeah, the Halimedas turn white at night and then green up again during the day. I think I read that the chlorophyll migrates

Those couple strands look pretty good to me. watch and see if the algae starts on them while they are still green (algae killing Halimeda) or if they do turn totally white THEN the algae starts growing on the Halimeda. Those other ones look like algae grew on dead Halimedas.

Vicki, I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to say in your first line there???????
Also, 3 little strands of Halimeda are not going to pull all the calcium out of basically fresh saltwater in a new tank. You need a forest of them to do that calcium limitation crash.

I still think (as Vicki also quotes out of her book) that the harsh conditions and excessive nutrients in the cycling tank are/were inhospitable for those RIP Halimedas. These newer ones may be just fine, you'll just have to watch and wait.

Also, if they were there when you got the rock, the whole journey from ocean to your tank could have easily killed them.

 

[mellen]

Your calcium shot up 100 ppm in 2 days? Maybe the test or test method needs to be reviewed, otherwise, way too soon to be dosing anything right now...This new tank might benefit from some twice weekly water changes to tone down the ammo/nitro spikes, just to alleviate the harsh conditions for all the live stock in there. Won't spank you, but it really would have been safer to wait quite awhile longer before stocking the tank. Your anemones look unnaturally white, possibly shocked/bleached; did you buy them that way? Otherwise, their loss of pigment since being in the tank is a big warning sign - I'm sorry, but they may die on you without careful intervention. Move them to a proper quarrantine tank and feed them and light them as well as you can. Use a skimmer and Seachem Purigen adsorber beads in mesh bag placed in area of highest filter/powerhead flow in quarrantine tank, cause it isn't cycled, either. Enrich their food with Zoe Marine and ZoeCon or use cyclopeeze. Keep the quarantine tank water as close to perfect as you can - 0 ammonia.

Otherwise, like frick'n'frag and Vickie say, Halimeda can appear to come back from the dead, so don't remove it. The chloroplasts do in fact migrate deep within the calcerous habitus (body) at night and when plant is stressed. Could gently rub cyano slime off the Halimeda using an airline siphon to vacuum it out of the tank, otherwise, it'll re-settle and grow in there.

The shift in PH values may simply be because you tested earlier in the lights-on period than the previous test; swings in PH occur due to photosynthesizers' activity; the zoothanthellae in corals/anemones, and the light responsive micro and macro algaes. PH and carbon dioxide levels interrelate in a tank. PH rises to optimum level during light period when CO2 and nutrients are being processed by the "plants"/algaes/zoothanellae, and PH goes down at lights-off, when all photosybthesizers are dormant but breathing in oxygen, and giving off CO2, just like the animals.
Some hobbyists like to temper these swings in PH by plumbing a refugium with "plants" that runs on an opposite light schedule from the main tank. Maintaining a decent Alkalinity and Calcium level alleviates the problem, too.

 

[ChrisMiddleton]

The Anemones were actually bought that way. THey are currently starting to look better then when the pet store had them but are dying in some ways. Im looking into getting MH and VHO lighting this weekend. How much water should I swap out when I do my water change? Would It be ok if I siphon out my water and add water from the ocean? (The pet store sells)

 

[racrumrine]

Chris:

If your tank is only 3 weeks into a cycle, you're probably killing your anemones. And, you didn't have the lighting for them to begin with.

Can you take them back to the pet store ASAP? If not, perhaps a local reefer in your area can hold them for you for awhile (probably for months). Check the club forums for one near you.

Unfortunately, if you don't act quickly it will be too late.

Best of luck,

Roy

 

[sjvl51]

Vicki, I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to say in your first line there???????

Sorry. I see we posted at the same time.

What I was trying to say is if the algae is covering the halimeda, then it is blocking the light and can cause the halimeda to die. This was in response to Chris's post - " the plants the algea covered seem to be dying."

I should have taken the time to reread what I typed.

Vickie

 

[mellen]

ChrisMiddleton - The natural seawater is great stuff, but it's too early to spend that money yet. Do something for the animal life ASAP and get your lights. Then just wait til your tank has had time to grow its own mini-ecosytem before proceeding to stock the tank again. Search for info here on quarantine set ups, the nitrogen cycle, skimmers, macro algae refugiums and coral keeping while you wait for your tank to "break in". Try searching on RK magazine and the general interest and new to hobby forums.

 

[ChrisMiddleton]

Ok Thanks

I think ima go ahead and take out the Anemones but I have to keep the fish. My dad has 2 Clowns already in his tank. I just hope my paired Cin clowns will make it.