Caulerpa Propagation

[Donya]

I have a big mass of Caulerpa that I'd like to divide up and tie down to grow in different places. For some reason it's never been able to anchor in more than a couple places on its own due to the tanks' high current, so it is growing upwards only and putting out tons of "roots" (can't remember the right term) that never reach anything and eventually shrivel up. I have a not-so-live rock that never grew anything but bacteria, so I'd like to encourage the Caulerpa to colonize one side of the rock instead of becomming a floating tangle that drifts around the tank.

I am wondering if it would be safe to snip off sections and anchor it artificially to a rock until it can hold itself down? I don't want to do something that causes a lot of it to die, so if that is a risk with snipping sections off, would it be better to artificially anchor the whole mass down without cutting it?

I have 3 species of Caulerpa I would like to do this with:
- Feather Caulerpa (C. taxifolia)
- Grape Caulerpa (C. racemosa)
- Razor Ribbon Caulerpa (C. serrulata)

The Grape Caulerpa is the one having the hardest time anchoring.

 

[crazyelece]

I've seen it done with ruberbands. Also no worries cutting it as long as it is growing well.

 

[steelhealr]

Agree...you can anchor it down with rubbers. SH

 

[fishyguy43]

I dont kno how to get it on the rock u want but ive heard tht - Feather Caulerpa (C. taxifolia) grows everywhere i even seen a tank at a lfs tht was taken over by it. It got in all the rock work, they evn drained the tank and tried cleaning every rock and a week later patches of the stuff poped up again.

 

[Donya]

Thanks guys! I will try the rubber bands.

Caulerpa takeover isn't something I really have to worry about right now...the tank is populated by stuff that munches on it, and its growth is limited by nutrients currently since it's an invert-only setup. Getting enough nutrients to keep it from dieing off was my main concern for a while, though I think I have that sorted out finally.

 

[Donya]

Geesh...I just had a go at untangling the Caulerpa ball. Good thing too since it had collected a ton of junk in it. Turned out there were so many runners I was just able to "tie" most of the pieces down that I separated/cut just by wrapping the runners around so they caught on themselves. Might still have to rubberband it if the snails get to interested in the new arrangement.

I found out though why it was turning into such a mess: at the heart of the ball was more wirey green filaments that were quite long (12"+), but wrapped around everything in hairball style. It was keeping the runners from growing in directions that would allow for anchoring. As far as I could see the filaments were not physically joined to the Caulerpa at any point...so maybe I already have some Chaeto? Guess I'll have to wait for the filaments to grow out and see. They are tough and somewhat stretchy.