Macro Algae Question

[Jack22]

I’m new to saltwater. 120 gallon tank has been running for about two weeks. I currently have a small ball of Caulerpa, I think, in my refugium (guy at the LFS called it grape leaf) because I couldn’t find any Cheato anywhere near me. I’ve never run a refigium before so just had a few questions.

1. Should I replace the Caulerpa with Cheato as soon as I can find some of is it basically the same?

2. Guy at the fish store said I can feed the grape leaf to fish when I eventually get some tangs or angelfish. Is that true?

3. I read that some people grow red Gracilaria in their tanks to feed herbivorous fish. I would not want it in my display tank, but can I grow it in the refugium with other macro algea? Or is it easier to just get the dried algea sheets?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Big G]

Welcome to R2R! Great questions. Keep them coming!
Chaeto, Sea Lettuce are the top removers of nitrates, etc. Caulerpa can go "sexual" but it is rare-ish for that to happen. So it could be bad for the tank.
Yes, you can feed macro algaes to tangs, butterflies, angels, and other herbivores.
Fresh grown Red Gracilara is like crack to some fish. LOL Great to grow in the sump/refugium.
Nothing wrong with dried nori. Buy it at the supermarket. Way cheaper.
Great places to read up and source macro algaes: Algae Barn, Reef Cleaners.

 

[EmdeReef]

I’m new to saltwater. 120 gallon tank has been running for about two weeks. I currently have a small ball of Caulerpa, I think, in my refugium (guy at the LFS called it grape leaf) because I couldn’t find any Cheato anywhere near me. I’ve never run a refigium before so just had a few questions.

1. Should I replace the Caulerpa with Cheato as soon as I can find some of is it basically the same?

2. Guy at the fish store said I can feed the grape leaf to fish when I eventually get some tangs or angelfish. Is that true?

3. I read that some people grow red Gracilaria in their tanks to feed herbivorous fish. I would not want it in my display tank, but can I grow it in the refugium with other macro algea? Or is it easier to just get the dried algea sheets?

Thanks for the help.

Welcome!

I'm sure you'll get great advice here. You should get a proper ID of the type of caulerpa you got as some species have different quirks worth knowing. I think no need to replace caulerpa with cheato but may need to prune it more often. Some indication that if you run fuge lights on 24/7 it will reduce the odds of it going sexual. Some species will be eaten by herbivores but some species can be toxic and it has an ability to spread in your tank, so you either need to make sure most of it gets eaten or remove the leftovers.

Gracilaria is wonderful! I grow it in my algae reactor and also got a small 5g tank just to grow it, my foxface goes intofrenzy when i drop it in tank.

 

[Jack22]

Thanks for the help everyone. I checked out Algae Barn and ended up ordering some clean chaeto from them. I think I'm going to get some Red Gracilaria and add it to my refugium. Planning to get a blue tang next so I can use it for food. Thanks again.

 

[Salt1972]

We had some issues getting Chaeto to thrive and added razor caleurpa (similar to grape). It's thriving and exporting nitrates, but our phosphates remain a tad high (.12). We do grab a pinch 3-4 times a week and put it in a mag clip for our purple tang. He'll eat nori and red sea weed first, but consumes the caleurpa as well.