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Coral Vue Hydros

Feather Caulerpa Question


Snow_Phoenix

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Hi. I have a 16G (2' long) tank full of corals. I had to do an emergency livestock transfer just yesterday after my 8G cracked and started leaking. Mercifully all my livestock made it.

 

I have a 3G in-tank fuge full of LR rubble, Chaeto, one unidentified red macro and one unidentified green macro that looks like clovers.

 

The truth is, I wish to stock this tank with a ruby red dragonet. I already have the dragonet in a QT tank right now. I wish to boost up my pod populations, so I'm planting as much macro in my refugium as I can.

 

A fellow reefer in my local area is quitting the hobby, so he offered to give me huge clumps of feather caulerpa for free. Is it wise to introduce feather caulerpa into my fuge? Is it easily pruned, and does it display any signs before going sexual?

 

Would love some feedback. Don't want to do something I might regret later.

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Hey Shadow, feather caulerpa really isn't that bad. I have it in my seahorse display fuge and I haven't had trouble making it behave. With lights on a photo phase schedule, if you prune it periodically it will not go sexual. If your lights are on 24/7 it won't go sexual either even without the pruning.

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Hey Shadow, feather caulerpa really isn't that bad. I have it in my seahorse display fuge and I haven't had trouble making it behave. With lights on a photo phase schedule, if you prune it periodically it will not go sexual. If your lights are on 24/7 it won't go sexual either even without the pruning.

 

Okay, thank you very much for the feedback! :)

 

I'll try to get some then. I think Grape Caulerpa is more difficult - I had it once and kept having to prune it before it sporulated and decimated my livestock. Wasn't exactly an easy thing to keep. <_<

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Okay, thank you very much for the feedback! :)

 

I'll try to get some then. I think Grape Caulerpa is more difficult - I had it once and kept having to prune before sporulated and decimated my livestock. Wasn't exactly an easy thing to keep. <_<

Yes, I have heard that about grape caulerpa. I never had that variety though. When you plant the feather caulerpa I would isolate it to its own rock. When you prune it, remove entire fronds rather than just pinching the tops off. That way less stuff is released in the water and also that is the most effective way of nutrient removal.
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Yes, I have heard that about grape caulerpa. I never had that variety though. When you plant the feather caulerpa I would isolate it to its own rock. When you prune it, remove entire fronds rather than just pinching the tops off. That way less stuff is released in the water and also that is the most effective way of nutrient removal.

 

Thanks for the tip and I shall bear that in mind! :)

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I have been using feather Caulerpa for a while now. No problems with transference into my display. Lights are on 14 hour on light cycle. i have never had it go sexual. Gets trimmed on a weekly basis.

 

Good luck with your ruby red dragonette. I have 5 and I love them. I am just starting to culture my pods.

 

I'm a bit of an algae addict. I would love seeing a picture of your clover looking algae. :)

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I have been using feather Caulerpa for a while now. No problems with transference into my display. Lights are on 14 hour on light cycle. i have never had it go sexual. Gets trimmed on a weekly basis.

 

Good luck with your ruby red dragonette. I have 5 and I love them. I am just starting to culture my pods.

 

I'm a bit of an algae addict. I would love seeing a picture of your clover looking algae. :)

 

I'll try to snap a pic and put it up here later. :) I'm thinking of harvesting more of it from my LFS - it sure grows pretty quickly. :)

 

Also, my ruby red isn't doing so great - he refuses to accept both prepared and live. :(

 

Guess he's one of those pod guys through and through. My fuge in the 16G is crawling with pods, but the tank is still new. But worse come to worse, I'll introduce him prematurely to the tank. I'd rather save him somehow than watch him starve in QT.

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Sorry to hear that the ruby red isn't doing well.

 

I would put him in that refugium. In my experience, if they get to skinny and lethargic they will not eat even when they have the right types of food.

 

I look forward to seeing pictures of the algae!

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Sorry to hear that the ruby red isn't doing well.

 

I would put him in that refugium. In my experience, if they get to skinny and lethargic they will not eat even when they have the right types of food.

 

I look forward to seeing pictures of the algae!

 

Finally got some pics! Upon closer inspection, it looks more like circular discs than clovers - my bad. Also shown is my red macro and my dragonet:

 

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I have seen that algae before. I believe common name is Mermaids cup or something similair. Acetabularia calyculus is the scientific name. Want to trade some algae? Shoot me a PM. :)

 

The red stuff looks like Galaxaura to me. I have seen it come in on rocks looking almost identical to that.

 

Your ruby red does not look bad. But, I do think adding to the lots of pods refugium is a good idea. Alternatively you could shake off a rock or some algae in its current tank. Just so it has food. :)

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I have seen that algae before. I believe common name is Mermaids cup or something similair. Acetabularia calyculus is the scientific name. Want to trade some algae? Shoot me a PM. :)

 

The red stuff looks like Galaxaura to me. I have seen it come in on rocks looking almost identical to that.

 

Your ruby red does not look bad. But, I do think adding to the lots of pods refugium is a good idea. Alternatively you could shake off a rock or some algae in its current tank. Just so it has food. :)

 

Ah, thanks for the ID! I'd love to trade, but unfortunately I live overseas in Malaysia (I'm assuming you're American, but don't bite me if I'm wrong). :(

 

I often look at all the wonderful macro the US has and it's honestly cool. Macro over here is usually very hard to find unless you harvest them yourself. Even then, most of the wild macro beached on shores is mostly dead or is covered with God-knows-what. :(

 

I know he doesn't look overly bad, but his belly is still a little bit thinner than I'd like. I just finished acclimating him to the tank btw. Right now he's hovering behind the rocks and occasionally pecking at the sand, so at least that's a start. I'm still on the hunt for some fish roe though.

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