How bad is caulerpa going sexual?

[reefmarker]

New to all this macro stuff. I am very good at growing green hair algae though!

I have a small amount (I think Caulerpa paspaloides) in my display tank that I like the look of and no one eats it.

If it goes sexual will the skimmer/UV be able to take care of it or will I have a major disaster that takes lots of work to clean up? Tank is 125G with a 36 watt UV and a Natilus TE skimmer. The Caulerpa is about 4" tall.

Jim...

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The normal Caulerpa racemosa in my refugium has never gone sexual in many years. A variant of Caulerpa racemosa (peltata) in the main tank does it periodically with no apparent problems that I can see:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=149235

 

[billsreef]

It's generally only a problem when it's a large quantity and in tanks with poor circulation. I like to run with a mix of macro's to avoid having a large quantity of any one type to go sexual. I also find it happens most often from some disruption, such as large water changes or temp flucuations. Also recent imports seem more likely to go sexual than established colonies.