So what are all the nutrient export options?
I was reading an article that got me thinking....
It mentioned some negative aspects of caulerpas. Basically that they leach "terpenoids, sugars etc". Currently I'm exporting cheato. I wonder if it has the same drawbacks? I don't even know what a terpenoid is, but doing a google search I saw this heading.. "Antimicrobial and cytotoxic terpenoids from tropical green algae". That can't be good. But, Cheato does not go sexual and even goes dormant if I forget to turn the lights on for a month. Which is the reason I've thrown all my other Caulerpas away.
How about corals? You always hear about people using Xenia as a nutrient export (although this might be more of an exaggeration in some cases!). What is their downside? What do they release?
Kenya trees. I think it grows faster than xenia, or at least mine did. I imagine they release toxins into the tank so maybe they are not so great in large quantities?
Mangroves. I guess the drawback there would be that they stick out of the tank. Personally I like to limit evap and keep a lid on everything. Plus, what do you do with it when it gets too big? Throw it out and start with a new one?
According to the article, halimeda seems to be a good choice for display tank options. What about some of these odd ball plants like shaving brush or "blade plant" from saltwaterfish.com? Never tried either of those, I wonder how well they grow? Are they a waste of money? My guess is that these are also display tank options.
What else am I not thinking of?
I was reading an article that got me thinking....
It mentioned some negative aspects of caulerpas. Basically that they leach "terpenoids, sugars etc". Currently I'm exporting cheato. I wonder if it has the same drawbacks? I don't even know what a terpenoid is, but doing a google search I saw this heading.. "Antimicrobial and cytotoxic terpenoids from tropical green algae". That can't be good. But, Cheato does not go sexual and even goes dormant if I forget to turn the lights on for a month. Which is the reason I've thrown all my other Caulerpas away.
How about corals? You always hear about people using Xenia as a nutrient export (although this might be more of an exaggeration in some cases!). What is their downside? What do they release?
Kenya trees. I think it grows faster than xenia, or at least mine did. I imagine they release toxins into the tank so maybe they are not so great in large quantities?
Mangroves. I guess the drawback there would be that they stick out of the tank. Personally I like to limit evap and keep a lid on everything. Plus, what do you do with it when it gets too big? Throw it out and start with a new one?
According to the article, halimeda seems to be a good choice for display tank options. What about some of these odd ball plants like shaving brush or "blade plant" from saltwaterfish.com? Never tried either of those, I wonder how well they grow? Are they a waste of money? My guess is that these are also display tank options.
What else am I not thinking of?
