Plant id help- keep it??

[Phyxius]

I looked at some of the links in the sticky notes but couldn't find this specific plant. The closest was a plant with much thinner leaves and it looked like it grows in a bunch.
I got this as a small 1 leaf plant off a handful of rock rubble I picked up for the sump. Its still attached to that small piece of rock in the picture,
In the last 3 months it keeps branching off by way of a runner(across rock/sand in pic) and popping up new shoots. It doesn't grow into anything but just lays across the surface of the rocks. Really nice looking plant but want to make sure I`m not playing with fire letting it grow??

I`ve been trimming the cheato around the plants so they get light and that's the reason for the shape of the cheato and not the plant doing something to it.

 

[mastou]

My guess would be Caulerpa (taxifolia?), how long is the leaves and does it look like this?

/Magnus

 

[Phyxius]

It looks like that but the leaves are anywhere from 6-10" long on them. The stem or runner in the picture is also like it.

 

[mastou]

Then it probably is Caulerpa. It can grow very rapidly which is why it is one of the most popular algae for nutrition removal.

I had to remove mine from my main tank because it was hard to control, spreading rapidly and attaching firmly to the rocks, so now I only have some in my refuge where it works as "biological filter" removing nutrition’s.

/Magnus

 

[Phyxius]

mastou, Magnus
Thanks for all the info. Its in my sump so I guess I will just leave it in there to grow and work along side the cheato. I just wanted to be sure it was okay to let go. I guess it was a good hitchhiker on the rock rubble then

Thanks!!

 

[Samala]

Definitely looks like a Caulerpa species, potentially taxifolia, but there are several that look like this generalized "feather"ed frond morphology. I dont know how to tell each apart.

Keep it in a small population and it can be a fine thing to have. Avoid letting it overtake the sump or outcompete the Chaetomorpha.

>Sarah

 

[Phyxius]

Samala,
Thanks for the info. I plan on keeping it in check so it doesn't grow out of hand. Did some research and it seems like it can overgrow its welcome when not kept in check.