maybe sexual

[monkey21]

i have just recieved my new macro. about 12 oz of razor and grape caulerpa. very cool. i started doing a drip acclimation to the tank. in the bowl i was using to acclimate as well as in the bag as well as in my hand the stuff looks dark green. then when i put it in my tank it looks very light. like a few white spots. a few clear and some light green. then of course there is the dark green. does this mean my macro is sexual. i would hate to lose it all. i put it ina holding container now till figure out what to do with it. could i remove the all the light stuff and put the rest in my tank. or what. or is there a way to save the light stuff or am i just panicking

 

[sjvl51]

When caulerpa goes sexual, it all turns transparent and clouds the water. This happens in a few hours (overnight) so I don't think that is your problem. I would put all the stuff in my tank and give it a few days. Most will probably return to the proper green with the additon of light and water movement. Any that is soft (squishey) I would toss as it is dying.

JMO

Vickie

 

[monkey21]

well iput it back in my tank. a lot of it looks good but then those lighter pieces scare me. i think it wwill be fine though. i think it is just stressed cuz of shipping. also the water is very very clear. all the macro keeps my tank crystal. thanks for the help

 

[Noffler]

I just got some grape caulerpa recently myself (without reading up on it first) Now I'm scared after reading how it can go sexual. I read I need to keep it trimmed to prevent this from happening. What do I need to trim off? Do I cut off all the grapes? Just thin it all out once a month? What are some of your practices?

 

[sjvl51]

When my refuge got about 3/4 full, I would pull out handfuls until the refuge was less than half full. I never worried about what I was pulling out - I would just grab a handful while holding the remainder in the tank with the other hand and pull until it separated.

Frequently I would take a handful, as I pulled it out and swirl it around in the sump. You could see the pods, etc come off the plants.

Vickie