Callurpa

[Die_Grinder]

i got some feather callurpa, and its started going clear i think it maybe lack of nutrient.

any ideas on how to save it?

 

[Navarre]

if its gone clear then its higholy likely that its dumped all its nutrients back into the water
Caulerpa will thrive and then suddenly without warning it will go clear and dump alll the stored nutrients back into the tank.

Caulerpa is definately not a good algae for a marine system. If kept it should only be kept in sumps where it can be managed properly to stop it from dumping its nutrients.

 

[Die_Grinder]

its in a refugium tho i have cheato growing in there aswell and thats doing fine.

any ideas?

 

[Lynden]

My Money "Plant" did that on the second day after it was given to me. So what I did was I took the last root of it and put it in an AC300 refugium. It just sat for a while, then began a stage of explosive growth lasting for more than 8 months. It never grew leaves back, only the vine-like roots. It did a very good job of purification, but was choked by cyanobacteria. I do plan to get another one.

-Lynden

 

[Mr Miagi]

How long have you had it? Sounds like either lack of prunning, or its gone sexual. Caulerpa can be used efficiently when running a fuge, you just need to be dilegent in prunning. The only downside too it, is it can be un-predictable as youve found, and could die or go sexual at anytime, for sometimes unknown reasons. Its better to stick with another macro like cheato if you can get hold of some. When you have caulerpa sp. its beneficial to prune hard, and often. Thats how the nutrient export really works. Prunning can also encourage faster, new growth.

 

[Die_Grinder]

had it about 3 days now i am only running a 9w t5 bulb on my refugium and M MUD is in there. strange tho

DG

 

[Mr Miagi]

Its probably gone sexual or died because of stress. Ive had macro do the same in my system. Its best to chop it back, and I mean hack back the clear bodied leafs to leave the stolons. Leave the remaining alive portions in there and see if it will come back. With anyluck, the stolons might sprout new fronds after they have established.

 

[Navarre]

You need to keep the lighting on the refugium on 24/7. The algae will usually dump its nutrients just after the lights go on or just after lights out. if there is no dusk or dawn then this helps stop the algae from doing this.

 

[SkiFletch]

You need to keep the lighting on the refugium on 24/7. The algae will usually dump its nutrients just after the lights go on or just after lights out. if there is no dusk or dawn then this helps stop the algae from doing this.

If I may clarify; Lights should be kept on 24/7 only with Culerpa types to prevent nutrient dump. With a chaeto or other macroalgae, you can use a traditional alternating cycle or even alternate it with your display tank to achieve a stable pH. Hence chaeto is more widely used and reccomended to those of us just wanting nutrient export and stable pH