Macro Issue

[rphillips]

Here are a couple photos of this cool macro algae that was nicely covering a pile of live rock in my tank until yesterday. It turned white and light yellow and the tank was cloudy. It happened sometime overnight and I didn't have time to deal with it before work, everything looked healthy in the tank, so I went to work. When I got home, the tank was crystal clear and everybody looks good, except of course the two kinds of macro algae. I'm guessing that it went sexual. But what does that mean exactly? Are there spores in the cloud that it released? Will it grow back? Should it be removed? It really looked good in there, I hope it will come back. Thanks for your input.

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[3D-Reef]

Might as well pull it out,because it won't grow back.
When it goes sexual like that, it releases spores to find a better place to grow.Most of the time it's lacking a nutrient of one kind or another.

 

[rphillips]

yep, siphoned it out with the trusty turkey baster this evening. It's strange because it had been growing very nicely, doubled in size over the last couple months.

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[Samala]

As it grows it uses up nutrients and resources, and sometimes the overall plant (colony?) gets big enough that its nutrient demands outstrip what is available in the tank. In these situations, when it cant get enough to eat and has burned through any internal resources, the algae will self-destruct as you've witnessed. I typically have it happen in my tanks when nitrogen or iron is limiting the algae's growth. Other nutrient limitations could cause it as well.

Looks like it was Caulerpa serrulata at the front, but something else behind it. Cant really ID from the photos.

The spores may resettle in the tank and pop up into new plants in the future. If you like them, its a good thing.

>Sarah

 

[rphillips]

Thanks Sarah, I recentlyincreased the flow to the sump and skimmer so it may be running a bit cleaner than it has in the past, limiting the algae's nutrients. I'm not sure what kinds of algae they are, I probably have more pictures somewhere.

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