Poll: Caulerpa Sporulation?

[Tyler_Fishman]

Cheato can do this too, contrary to popular belief they can sporulate, which is very worry some, because I doubt anyone uses caulerpa as their main nutrient export system and caulerpa is a bit more prone to sexual reproduction, anyone who neglects their refugium maybe in for a shock when that three pound ball of algae sporulates and crashes their tank. I think Cheatomorpha is “ticking time clock of algae” it maybe the most benificial algae in your system but it also has the power to deystroy the tank.

 

[Salty.Reefer]

Cheato can do this too, contrary to popular belief they can sporulate, which is very worry some, because I doubt anyone uses caulerpa as their main nutrient export system and caulerpa is a bit more prone to sexual reproduction, anyone who neglects their refugium maybe in for a shock when that three pound ball of algae sporulates and crashes their tank. I think Cheatomorpha is “ticking time clock of algae” it maybe the most benificial algae in your system but it also has the power to deystroy the tank.

Just curious to why spores would case a tank crash. People dose phytoplankton is that different?

 

[Cae]

Every time I put calerpa prolifica in my sump it turns white after large water changes. It must have been too big a change. I can't do anymore than a 10%change

 

[mort]

Just curious to why spores would case a tank crash. People dose phytoplankton is that different?

It's not the spores that are the problem but everything that is locked up in the cells. This means you get everything that it took in dumped back at once which can cause ammonia, nitrite and nitrate spikes, as well as increase phosphate. The worst though is the breakdown of these strips oxygen from the water.
I've had halimeda sporulate and it's not been to bad but with caulerpa the water really turns green. Caulerpa also contains toxins that are designed to deter herbivores and I'm not sure anyone understands the effect of these during an event, they can certainly kill off corals when growing over them so you need to act fast when everything released.

 

[Salty.Reefer]

It's not the spores that are the problem but everything that is locked up in the cells. This means you get everything that it took in dumped back at once which can cause ammonia, nitrite and nitrate spikes, as well as increase phosphate. The worst though is the breakdown of these strips oxygen from the water.
I've had halimeda sporulate and it's not been to bad but with caulerpa the water really turns green. Caulerpa also contains toxins that are designed to deter herbivores and I'm not sure anyone understands the effect of these during an event, they can certainly kill off corals when growing over them so you need to act fast when everything released.

Interesting. One thing is for sure is I am not going to be using the same algae in my new builds refugium. It has become a total nightmare in my older tank.

 

[Halal Hotdog]

I had caulerpa in a tank over a decade ago, it was a go to macro back than. I don't ever recall it going sexual. Every month while doing maintenance on my chaeto some always finds its way into display. Never a big deal. If the same happened with caulerpa then that would be a pain in the but to pull from rocks. IMO caulerpa is a better nutrient export, but too much headache associated with it.

 

[Forsaken77]

I was actually surprised that poll didn't include Ulva as an option. Imo, that macro is a much more manageable one than chaeto, and is on par with nutrient removal.

 

[Orm Embar]

My last reef tank before this one was wiped out due to Caulerpa sporulation. I had feather and grape Caulerpa, which grew nicely in the display. However, it kept growing, and eventually broke down and sporulated. This, plus the new growth all over the tank, pretty much wiped any corals out.

Having said that, I certainly didn't keep it pruned - I do wonder if sporulation can be prevented by good husbandry (I freely admit that my reef husbandry at the time was very lacking).

I wouldn't try it again, seeing that chaeto works very well with no risk of invasiveness or sporulation. Chaeto in a well lit refugium is easily the cheapest, easiest to maintain, and most effective reef filtration that I've ever tried. I suspect Caulerpa would work much the same (if not better given Caulerpa's growth speed), but I don't know enough about Caulerpa allelopathy specifically to comment on that, or whether good reef husbandry prevents sporulation.

 

[Orm Embar]

I was actually surprised that poll didn't include Ulva as an option. Imo, that macro is a much more manageable one than chaeto, and is on par with nutrient removal.

I've thought about Ulva - I'm curious what your experience has been with rapidity of growth, how well behaved, and how easily farmed. I do realize that this gets off topic, so my apologies for that.

 

[Forsaken77]

I've thought about Ulva - I'm curious what your experience has been with rapidity of growth, how well behaved, and how easily farmed. I do realize that this gets off topic, so my apologies for that.

My experience wasn't long lasted before I tore down my entire fuge because of the chaeto getting everywhere after pruning. But I used chaeto, red gracilaria and ulva all mixed. Even put some nice blue turf algae in the display, but the fish ate it.

The ulva and chaeto killed off the gracilaria, which grows a bit slower.

Ulva is just like lettuce in a sense. It grew fine with the same 6500K lighting I used to grow the chaeto and I ended up letting my 2 foxfaces have at it when I took the fuge down.

I do however have a friend that is using it in a reactor and having a good experience. He couldn't seem to maintain chaeto very well, but the ulva is growing nicely. I guess it's a more hardy plant and nowhere near as messy in my experience as chaeto.

I always like to mix the macros because you may get better growth with one over another. My next attempt will be a reactor with ulva to start with. The only thing I'm not sure of is if there are different species because I just got what my lfs had on hand.

 

[Bunnee911]

I had a sw planted 10 g. I filled it with some amazing macros. The caulerpa took over and one morning I got up to find it full of “chocolate milk “. The caulerpa Mexico and blade both went sexual.