Ulva, is it really the devil’s lettuce?

[A_Blind_Reefer]

I want to grow some macros in my sump as food for the tangs and such. I ordered some red ogo, some Pom Pom ogo, and ulva. I’ve read a bit and it seems that a few people despise ulva, say it’s the spawn of satan and will completely overrun the display. Most seem to love it and have no problems at all. I’m on the fence and not so sure I want to add it if it’s going to be an issue. What’s your experience?

 

[TX_REEF]

if you have a tang that likes to eat it, you should be fine. If not, it will overrrun your display. I'll send you a pic of my frag tank after lights on, it's too shallow for a yellow tang (I've found they love ulva) so it is very had to keep under control and will grow on any surface. I frequently harvest it to put in my main display, where my yellow tang happily devours it.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

if you have a tang that likes to eat it, you should be fine. If not, it will overrrun your display. I'll send you a pic of my frag tank after lights on, it's too shallow for a yellow tang (I've found they love ulva) so it is very had to keep under control and will grow on any surface. I frequently harvest it to put in my main display, where my yellow tang happily devours it.

I’ll take your word on the frag tank…I can’t see pics well enough to tell what’s what ha.

I have a yellow and Tomini that have been going through nori pretty quick. I like the idea of growing fresh food for them. I know the red and Pom Pom don’t grow all that fast so those would just be occasional treats. If ulva grows fast enough to keep a steady supply going, I could back off of the nori.

I don’t really want it taking over the display though. I've read a couple posts where it just spread everywhere and a bunch where it just stays in the sump, but the ones where it spread sounded pretty devastating. I also read one where it was never a problem until a tang passed on and then it just exploded. I have a bunch of trochus snails but I don’t know that they touch ulva.

 

[TX_REEF]

I’ll take your word on the frag tank…I can’t see pics well enough to tell what’s what ha.

I have a yellow and Tomini that have been going through nori pretty quick. I like the idea of growing fresh food for them. I know the red and Pom Pom don’t grow all that fast so those would just be occasional treats. If ulva grows fast enough to keep a steady supply going, I could back off of the nori.

I don’t really want it taking over the display though. I've read a couple posts where it just spread everywhere and a bunch where it just stays in the sump, but the ones where it spread sounded pretty devastating. I also read one where it was never a problem until a tang passed on and then it just exploded. I have a bunch of trochus snails but I don’t know that they touch ulva.

trochus will eat it, but not keep it at bay if it takes hold. I'd keep it out of your display if you could... grow it in fuge then rip pieces off to feed with a clip. My yellow loves it, tomini doesn't care for it.

 

[Soren]

I added ulva to my refugium sump (40g display, 30g sump 3/4 refugium section) to take up extra nutrients from heavy bioload along with a few other macroalgaes, and I'm considering trying to remove it.

My original plan was to grow it as a food source for my herbivores, since I like tangs and foxfaces and have several in other larger tanks right now. In this system, it grows like crazy and completely covers the top of the sump section to a 3-4" depth within less than a week.

I have not kept up with the harvest rate very well, and it blocks the light to the other macroalgaes. My overflow drains entered the sump with clear tubing, and the ulva very quickly became established in the tubing and grows to obstruct the tubing within a week or so even after I cut back the tubes to be just above water level in the sump and scrub them out twice a week. At the rate it grows, I could probably feed 10 times as many herbivores as I have just from the ulva in this one system.

My plan is to set up some kind of remote system, either for this system on my work desk or on a system at home, to keep growing ulva and keep it isolated, but I do not ever plan to introduce it to a display tank of any sort. I'm nervous enough with adding a small amount to a nori clip that my foxface has not finished off yet. If it is not consumed today, I will likely remove it so it does not become established in my display, as the foxface will not keep up with the crazy growth rate if it has not finished even a small sheet of it in a clip over about 24 hours...

Edit: I should also mention that I am dehydrating the harvest to see how that works out as a nori replacement. It is a lot more brittle than nori if just simply dried, but I am planning to find a way to compact it into sheets similar to nori. I also will probably crush some of the dried sheets to add to my homemade frozen food mix, though I think herbivores enjoy eating it from a fresh sheet more than in floating bits and pieces.

 

[Silly clownfish]

Well, I have not been able to keep it alive long term in my sump, but I can’t keep any macro algae alive long term. My nutrients are too low and I am not willing to dose nutrients just to grow algae.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

trochus will eat it, but not keep it at bay if it takes hold. I'd keep it out of your display if you could... grow it in fuge then rip pieces off to feed with a clip. My yellow loves it, tomini doesn't care for it.

That was the plan, but I’m trying get a solid feel on how/if it’s been so problematic that it just isn’t worth the risk.

 

[TX_REEF]

That was the plan, but I’m trying get a solid feel on how/if it’s been so problematic that it just isn’t worth the risk.

I think it's extremely unlikely to take hold in the display if you just feed with a clip on the glass. If you grow it in the sump, you'll want to make sure the chamber it is growing in is separated from the display with legit mechanical filtration media to keep any stray pieces from being introduced into the display via the return and taking hold on the rockwork.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

I added ulva to my refugium sump (40g display, 30g sump 3/4 refugium section) to take up extra nutrients from heavy bioload along with a few other macroalgaes, and I'm considering trying to remove it.

My original plan was to grow it as a food source for my herbivores, since I like tangs and foxfaces and have several in other larger tanks right now. In this system, it grows like crazy and completely covers the top of the sump section to a 3-4" depth within less than a week.

I have not kept up with the harvest rate very well, and it blocks the light to the other macroalgaes. My overflow drains entered the sump with clear tubing, and the ulva very quickly became established in the tubing and grows to obstruct the tubing within a week or so even after I cut back the tubes to be just above water level in the sump and scrub them out twice a week. At the rate it grows, I could probably feed 10 times as many herbivores as I have just from the ulva in this one system.

My plan is to set up some kind of remote system, either for this system on my work desk or on a system at home, to keep growing ulva and keep it isolated, but I do not ever plan to introduce it to a display tank of any sort. I'm nervous enough with adding a small amount to a nori clip that my foxface has not finished off yet. If it is not consumed today, I will likely remove it so it does not become established in my display, as the foxface will not keep up with the crazy growth rate if it has not finished even a small sheet of it in a clip over about 24 hours...

Edit: I should also mention that I am dehydrating the harvest to see how that works out as a nori replacement. It is a lot more brittle than nori if just simply dried, but I am planning to find a way to compact it into sheets similar to nori. I also will probably crush some of the dried sheets to add to my homemade frozen food mix, though I think herbivores enjoy eating it from a fresh sheet more than in floating bits and pieces.

This is along the lines of what I was thinking. It sounds like it grows a bit too fast though. I’m wondering if that could be managed with lighting schedule/intensity and maybe an eggcrate section to limit the area for ulva.

I despise clear/opaque tubing for this reason alone. So many people love that clear silicone…anyone with bright lighting figures out that stuff grows in it pretty quick. Two little fishies has a magnet mouse (different sizes) that fits inside tubing so that you clean the inside using the other magnet on the outside. It’s pretty slick.

Yeah I for sure don’t want to be in that boat of having to take things a part and scrape things clean. Not happening with my vision and dexterity!

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

I think it's extremely unlikely to take hold in the display if you just feed with a clip on the glass. If you grow it in the sump, you'll want to make sure the chamber it is growing in is separated from the display with legit mechanical filtration media to keep any stray pieces from being introduced into the display via the return and taking hold on the rockwork.

Yeah, that’s a negative there. I could put a sponge/mesh filter in the bubble trap before the return but I’ve had those clog up and don’t really like them. It’s no fun for me to try and keep those clean and I end up making more of a mess than it’s worth! These are all great tips! Thanks everyone.

 

[Soren]

This is along the lines of what I was thinking. It sounds like it grows a bit too fast though. I’m wondering if that could be managed with lighting schedule/intensity and maybe an eggcrate section to limit the area for ulva.

I despise clear/opaque tubing for this reason alone. So many people love that clear silicone…anyone with bright lighting figures out that stuff grows in it pretty quick. Two little fishies has a magnet mouse (different sizes) that fits inside tubing so that you clean the inside using the other magnet on the outside. It’s pretty slick.

Yeah I for sure don’t want to be in that boat of having to take things a part and scrape things clean. Not happening with my vision and dexterity!

I should also note that my sump macroalgae refugium does have a bright grow light with a fairly long photoperiod that could be used to limit the ulva growth by shortening the light duration each day, but I would rather remove the ulva from this system and allow the other macroalgaes to grow in this system. I like the idea of ulva, but need to keep it in a separate system for controlled grow-out.

Also, I do not think I will ever use clear tubing again for this very reason. Along with other lessons, my plumbing will be different when I finally get my main living room system set up. Anything that is a hassle to maintain will cause problems...

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

I should also note that my sump macroalgae refugium does have a bright grow light with a fairly long photoperiod that could be used to limit the ulva growth by shortening the light duration each day, but I would rather remove the ulva from this system and allow the other macroalgaes to grow in this system. I like the idea of ulva, but need to keep it in a separate system for controlled grow-out.

Also, I do not think I will ever use clear tubing again for this very reason. Along with other lessons, my plumbing will be different when I finally get my main living room system set up. Anything that is a hassle to maintain will cause problems...

My thoughts exactly….anything that’s a hassle blows! Plus I have lazy reefer syndrome!

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

It's worse than any other algae. Completely overtaken my display tank. Just added a foxface to help mow it down but it grows insanely fast.

 

[DaJMasta]

I had some in my tank that would spread through small bits landing somewhere and taking hold. It persisted for months with manual removal and urchins/crabs/snails/algae blenny (maybe didn't care for it?), but eventually it went away. Can't say for sure why, I've got an algae scrubber and still have hair algae growing in some spots in the display, but eventually my own persistence seemed to pay off. I've done fluconazole treatments in the past and maybe that ultimately lead to its downfall, but I at least didn't notice them coinciding at the time.

It's not unbeatable or all consuming, I'd say bryopsis is more persistent, but it's certainly prolific and will be a problem in larger tanks with fewer herbivores.

 

[ptrusk]

The devil is an understatement. It will spread like a plague. I added a foxface to get rid of it in main tank and he devours it. It still pops up in places he can't reach like on top of return and feeding ring but tha's easy to deal with.

 

[ptrusk]

trochus will eat it, but not keep it at bay if it takes hold. I'd keep it out of your display if you could... grow it in fuge then rip pieces off to feed with a clip. My yellow loves it, tomini doesn't care for it.

Honestly I wouldn't feed it. I received it as a bonus on a frag plug I didn't remove before I added it to display. Never even saw it.

If you have an herbivore that will eat it you might be ok, but why tempt the devil. Many other greens that are not invasive.

 

[Doctorgori]

Ive used it forever, never had it even try to establish in the display; just too many things eat IME, your sample may differ…
I also use in the refugium and macro reactor as its more impeller friendly than chaeto…not as efficient, but much tidier