Weird Cheato?

[wpnorton]

I poached some Cheato from a fellow reefers sump when I stated my 90G oceanic with a sump. When I got it...IT was dark green and "hair like", looked good to me. It's grown considerably in the last two month, but has developed into grape like clusters with the "grapes" being about the size of BB's. Is this normal, or do I have some sort of mutant Cheato?

 

[kenny77]

sure it is chaeto because it sounds like it is caulerpa

 

[wpnorton]

it might be Grape Caulerpa or Caulerpa racemosa. It didin't look like this when I put it in the tank? Maybe there was a trace of it in the Chaeto..the Chaeto died of and the Chalerpa thrived? I'm stumped. Is Chalerpa bad or harmful at all?

 

[Frick-n-Frags]

post a pic for a better chance at a positive ID

 

[m2434]

Sounds like Grape Caulerpa. Does it have roots?

 

[zotzer]

Re: Weird Cheato?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11113174#post11113174 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wpnorton
I poached some Cheato from a fellow reefers sump when I stated my 90G oceanic with a sump. When I got it...IT was dark green and "hair like", looked good to me. ]

What kind of hair?

Chaeto is very course, curly, and hard. Kind of feels like squiggly plastic strings all clumped together. I wouldn't call it hair-like at all.

Tracy

 

[wpnorton]

Re: Re: Weird Cheato?

Re: Re: Weird Cheato?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11113654#post11113654 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zotzer
What kind of hair?

Chaeto is very course, curly, and hard. Kind of feels like squiggly plastic strings all clumped together. I wouldn't call it hair-like at all.

Tracy

Here you go... I can see a ball of Cheato inside the clusters of other stuff? nut it's being taken over by the grape like stuff?

 

[Caulerpanator]

Sounds like grape Caulerpa (Caulerpa racemosa). It is illegal to possess, sell, or distribute this (and 8 other species of Caulerpa) in California to the environmental impact it can have when accidentally released into the wild. It can also be very invasive in your tank. The safest way to dispose of it is to put it in a bag in the freezer overnight, then put it in the trash. Make sure to put any water from your tank (it can have small hairs of Caulerpa in it) into the sewer (sink, toilet, shower) and not into the storm drain, yard, gutter. You were wise to try to use Chaetomorpha, a superior choice! That Caulerpa can sneak into anything!

 

[wpnorton]

At this point, I can't drain my tank to remove it. I just removed it from the sump and cleaned it as best as I could. I haven't seen any traces of it in my display tank yet...but I'll keep looking. Will it grow in lawns or outside of a water environment?

 

[Caulerpanator]

It is very hard to get rid of, since it can grow back from just the little hairs that are left behind in the rocks or gravel or grown into hardware. As far as living out of the water, some Caulerpa can live out of water for two weeks and start growing again once it hits the water. Looks like you are close enough to the Bay that it is best to not put it outside, but in the trash. It may survive a LONG trip down the gutter/storm drain to the bay.

 

[wpnorton]

So what's the bad news...Is the tank doomed? Do I need to tear it all down and start from scratch after letting the tank sit dry for a month?

 

[Caulerpanator]

No, no, sorry didn't mean to imply that. Just hoping you'll keep an eye on the material you pull out. If you do find a stubborn rock or something that it keeps growing out on you could let the whole rock dry out to make sure all the Caulerpa is dead. Good luck!

 

[wpnorton]

That's a little more reassuring. I could have only got it from two places and both of those people have very nice reef tanks with not visible problems. I'll keep an eye in it.