Caulerpa Racemosa Var. Turbinata

[Donya]

Anyone know if C. racemosa turbinata ( http/www.meerwasser-lexikon.de/images/Psps9vDeGT.jpg ) is one on the menu for many Turbinid snails and/or sea hares? I recently got some and have it strung up so that it's floating in the middle at the surface, since that gets it closer to the light and away from potential maulings by my sea hare and large Turbos. I have been wondering whether to risk trying to attach it to rocks, since there's not much of it yet. In the past I found an unidentified type of C. racemosa that was mowed down by just about every gastropod I had, but also currently have another variety of C. racemosa that seems to be ignored by all my snails and sea hare.

 

[SkiFletch]

Dunno about yours, but MY sea hare gobbled up my C racemosa, hair algae, Chateomorpha, Diatoms, Dinoflagellates, Byropsis, even Cyanobacteria (turned purple when it at the Cyano)...

 

[Donya]

What species of sea hare? The one I have currently is Dolabella auriculara (or D. gigas...virtually identical except for a prong on the internal shell); I've never seen that one or others of the same species turn colors based on diet.

 

[SkiFletch]

Yup, that's the one. Although I don't have pictures and he's long since in another aquarist's posession, his color turned almost that of the cyano covered hair algae he started eating. Was kind of wierd.

 

[pleder]

You put racemosa in your tank on purpose? Why?

I keep a planted tank too, but racemosa just kills everything IME. I'd pull it . . . quickly.

 

[Donya]

You put racemosa in your tank on purpose? Why?

1. I was having a hard time finding any other Caulerpas or similar macros locally (I really wanted razor Caulpera but hadn't found any yet)
2. I like the way it looks, the turbinata particularly.
3. It's a good nutrient export (although other Caulerpa species are better; Chaeto too obviously, but it would be immediate lunch)
4. It manages to grow even under my embarassingly shabby lighting and at cooler temperatures.
5. If it did get munched to death, whatever munched it would at least be happy and I'd just be back looking for razor Caulerpa again...no big loss.

I keep a planted tank too, but racemosa just kills everything IME. I'd pull it . . . quickly.

Kills "everything"? Having kept non-turbinata varieties in the past, I don't think my fish, gastropods, hermits, and urchin are in danger. It's not a reef tank.