nasoman007
New member
Can anyone ID this macroalgae. Also is it good to grow in a refugium?
macroalgae id?
- Thread starter nasoman007
- Start date
c. dawg
New member
looks like grape caulerpa too me but im no expert, and as far as growing it in a refugium, i would but some people wouldn't . its almost a matter of personal preference since it can go sexual. another popular macroalgae for refugiums is cheatomorpha because for one thing it doesnt go sexual.
nasoman007
New member
what does it mean when grape caulerpa can go sexual?
c. dawg
New member
I'm also not good at id's.. but it looks like caulerpa racemosa to me.. (grape caulerpa). Yes some people do use it for refuge nutrient export. It can like most/all caulerpa's go sexual, I would use it. I don't thing "sexual" episodes are as scary as some people make them. Most of the macro's I've seen go sexual you would notice if you even play the slightest bit of attention.
Plantbrain
Active member
As long as your feeding is consistent and your pruning of the macro algae is consistent, the Caulpera will not go sexual.
Also higher temp changes will trigger sexual responses.
The probelm is when people allow their biomass of Caulerpa to double or triple in size then deplete the NO3/NH4 from the main source tank.
The plant will eat itself out of house and home. Then when there are no nutrients left, it will think it's starving, go sexual to make it through the rougher environmental conditions and you'll get that melt down.
It's very similar to annual terrestrial seed plants when drought occurs, they produce seeds to make it through the dry summer/winter etc till conditions improve, many algae do this also but with temp/seasons/nutrients instead of dought.
So if you maintain a relatively constant export by pruning the Caulpera, it will not go sexual on you provided you imports of nutrients(fish food, KNO3, Ca, HCO3/CO3, traces etc) are also relatively constant.
It's no mystery.
Regards,
Tom Barr
Also higher temp changes will trigger sexual responses.
The probelm is when people allow their biomass of Caulerpa to double or triple in size then deplete the NO3/NH4 from the main source tank.
The plant will eat itself out of house and home. Then when there are no nutrients left, it will think it's starving, go sexual to make it through the rougher environmental conditions and you'll get that melt down.
It's very similar to annual terrestrial seed plants when drought occurs, they produce seeds to make it through the dry summer/winter etc till conditions improve, many algae do this also but with temp/seasons/nutrients instead of dought.
So if you maintain a relatively constant export by pruning the Caulpera, it will not go sexual on you provided you imports of nutrients(fish food, KNO3, Ca, HCO3/CO3, traces etc) are also relatively constant.
It's no mystery.
Regards,
Tom Barr
Supplimental Fertilization for Fuge
Supplimental Fertilization for Fuge
Tom, do you recommend supplimental fertilization for the fuge at all? I use your method for the freshwater planted tanks I keep -- I was wondering if there was any crossover of that method to the SW world?
thanks,
Reggie
Supplimental Fertilization for Fuge
Tom, do you recommend supplimental fertilization for the fuge at all? I use your method for the freshwater planted tanks I keep -- I was wondering if there was any crossover of that method to the SW world?
thanks,
Reggie
