Ulva
- Thread starter cal_stir
- Start date
Ulva is an opportunistic macro algae. For example, in Nature, it could pop up after a rain event that washes nutrients into an inland lagoon. It likes bright light and lots of nutrients. So if you're trying to maintain a low nutrient reef tank, it will struggle. If your tank is new, it will probably do well until your water chemistry settles down. Then it will disappear! If you have a high nutrient event in your tank, even months later, it could pop up again. It could indeed get into your display. However, it is extremely tasty to pretty much all herbivores - even humans! So it's not likely to become a nuisance, unless you let nutrients really get out of hand. Red macros like Gracilaria are maybe a better choice for a reef tank refugium. They grow slow and steady and can get by with the lower nutrients you usually see in reef tanks.
Chasmodes
Well-known member
Great spot on advice Michael. I had a hard time in my small oyster reef tank keeping it alive, but with better lighting in my big tank, it really took off.
It took off so much that I had an explosion of Ulva growth, as Michael mentioned, because the tank was pretty new. It died out fast and resulted in a bacterial bloom, followed by green water. I cut back light and food, and everything went back to normal, but the Ulva was gone. Prior to that, it grew off rocks and formed large mats on the surface, which looked really cool especially with all that bright green. However, chunks would break off, either naturally, by crabs, or by fish, and clog my overflow. One time, I went down and my tank water level was even with the eurobracing! I had to constantly watch and clear my overflow, something to worry about if I went on vacation. Since the die off, I haven't seen it since. Gracilaria and another macro that I can't identify (yet) have really taken off. They stay attached to the rocks, so no worries about my overflow.
It took off so much that I had an explosion of Ulva growth, as Michael mentioned, because the tank was pretty new. It died out fast and resulted in a bacterial bloom, followed by green water. I cut back light and food, and everything went back to normal, but the Ulva was gone. Prior to that, it grew off rocks and formed large mats on the surface, which looked really cool especially with all that bright green. However, chunks would break off, either naturally, by crabs, or by fish, and clog my overflow. One time, I went down and my tank water level was even with the eurobracing! I had to constantly watch and clear my overflow, something to worry about if I went on vacation. Since the die off, I haven't seen it since. Gracilaria and another macro that I can't identify (yet) have really taken off. They stay attached to the rocks, so no worries about my overflow.
Similar threads
