Planting caulerpa prolifera

[loyalhero90]

Hello,

I received a bag of caulerpa prolifera and I'm not sure how to help it attach. I have tried anchoring it with sand but there are still strands floating around in the water column and the rhizomes are stretching and are pretty long so I'm wondering if they are trying to attach but aren't able to get to the substrate. The plants were pretty jumbled so I just anchored it to the sand in the same jumbled fashion. Should I try to find the runners and carefully anchor those in the sand or between rocks. Also while it does look green in most spots some of it is turning yellow and look a little damage so is that because it is not able to anchor properly or am I not supplying it with enough flow/light etc. I remember reading that prolifera just needed one end to be held down with a rock and the rest would attach eventually ( and quickly) but I have had the plant for a few days and I see little attachment except when the rhizomes are directly into the sand or on a rock work. I guess what is the best way that you all have planted caulerpa prolifera? Is it okay in a tangled mass with a little anchored or to separate the runners and secure against the live rock? I was told by the seller that it could attach to live rock but would it be better with sand? I've attached some photos of the aquarium but I apologize for the blurriness and quality since I had to take them with my phone.

 

-Thanks

Edited October 28, 2011 by loyalhero90

[loyalhero90]

Any type of suggestion or thoughts would be appreciated. I'm new at this so please forgive if I'm a little bit more worried than I should be.

[BLoCkCliMbeR]

pick out choice strands.

 

attach them to rocks with rubber bands or pin them with other rocks.

 

wait.

 

you def. dont need all of it in there. its a fast grower.

 

its mostly waiting.

[joshnanoreef]

I planted mine in the sand with the "leaves" poking out. It did fine until it went sexual several weeks later...

[loyalhero90]

Okay so I have taken out most of the caulerpa and I have tried to anchor it more into the substrate. Some parts I gently wrapped around some of the rock. I'm waiting to see what happens. Also the plant was complimentary with my order of live rocks ( i didn't know about them until I received the package) that I used to cycle the tank so I felt obligated to add them to the tank (even though it was not cycled yet) because I really didn't know what else to do and I didn't want to throw them away if they could survive. They are still green but I don't know about growth since they've only been in there for about 3 days. Does anyone think they will survive okay?

 

Also the aquarium is 5 gallons with a 10w compact fluorescent in case anyone wanted that info...

[BLoCkCliMbeR]

do you know what you are getting into? once it does root, you will pretty much be stuck with it.

 

if it was complementary, it shouldnt hurt too bad to get rid of it.

[loyalhero90]

I have read that If the caulerpa prolifera was pruned regularly and put on a 12-14 hour day cycle then it would be more unlikely for it to go sexual. I have also read that it is a horrible macroalgae and should be removed. I have also read that macroalgae can be added to a cycling. Overall I have read many conflicting things and I am trying to sort out all the information so please forgive if I sound unsure and confused at times.

Also my tank will be dominated by macroalgae and live rock so maybe caulerpa prolifera is for the best. In the end if it is pruned regularly and on the right daylight cycle then caulerpa would not be as bad. I mostly hear about the horrors of caulerpa with tanks that are mainly for corals but not in a macroalgae dominant tank. While I can get rid of it since it was free I am still trying to figure out if it is best to get rid of it especially since the aquarium will be macroalgae dominant which is why I'm askin' so many questions about its care. If you have any suggestions,blockclimber, for something that is good for nutrient uptake, low flow, attached to the substrate and low-moderate lighting then I would be grateful for that

[BLoCkCliMbeR]

a little goes a long way. just wanted to make sure you knew what it was capable of.

i found that temp/salinity swings made it go sexual in my tanks. it would go crazy when i did water changes.

its pretty user friendly, and hard to kill.keep it wet, add light. ive had it in water as hot as 90 and it was fine.

out of all the types of calurpa, its one of the more desirable ones.

[grmoore]

That's a lot of Caulerpa!

 

You allude to still cycling your tank. If that is the case, you can expect quite a bit of the plant to die off until the ammonia settles out. I used Dr. Tim's nitrite to help cycle my last two tanks rapidly (my current started off with seeded rock as well) and let me get my macros in rather quickly and with great success.

 

The Caulerpa can be hit or miss depending on nutrient availability (nitrates and iron in particular), and in a cycling tank the lack of nitrates and high ammonia could be a cause of issue for you. Based on your photos, the plants look healthy, but there is so much in there it will choke out any other macros you try to introduce. Personally, I would take a few choice 6" strands and weave them around the back of the tank near the sandbed to use as background foliage, and sell/trade the rest at your LFS. I would also keep it out of the sand to start, as really only the rhizomes should be covered, not the runner - let the plant find its own way into the sandbed. It will attach to your rocks over time no matter how hard you try to prevent it, and once it does it will be permanent. Regular pruning to limit that possibility is your only option.

 

Dose some quality iron and the plant will green up very nicely. I like Kent's iron, and have also had good success with Brightwell (I use Kent's currently). It won't go sexual if you provide it nutrients and avoid great fluctuations in water quality - going sexual is a last ditch mechanism of survival. You should also prune it midway between leaves along the runner to limit stress and give the plant the best chance of surviving the trim.

[loyalhero90]

Okay. I have taken out a lot of the caulerpa and put most of it in the back; however, my tank is mostly made up of rocks and the tank is a hex so I don't have too much sand space. I have posted more pics so hopefully I did it right. I need more lighting but that will be ordered soon. Also do I dose during the cycle or after the cycle with plant supplements?I will keep an eye on the plant to make sure it doesn't go sexual but I am worried about the position of the plant...The tank is made up of 2lbs live rock and 6lbs dry rock and the tank is a 5 gal hex. I have arag-alive hawaiian black sand and I added bio-spira for hopefully a quick cycle. Any more suggestions?

Edited October 29, 2011 by loyalhero90

[grmoore]

Looks good to me. If you have new water, there is probably enough iron in there to support those plants. If you see them slipping to a pale green you should probably try dosing the iron. I dose iron every other day and test the levels once a month.

 

Is that Sargassum on the other side of the tank?

[Formula462]

I've had that stuff turn so many tanks opaque and green. It looks pretty cool up until it decides to jizz all in the water and muck things up.

[BLoCkCliMbeR]

I've had that stuff turn so many tanks opaque and green. It looks pretty cool up until it decides to jizz all in the water and muck things up.

ive only had it go crazy when there was problems with my water or tempature. i havent seen any info on the season they usually go sexual in the wild....

[Formula462]

ive only had it go crazy when there was problems with my water or tempature. i havent seen any info on the season they usually go sexual in the wild....

 

It happens about 15 minutes after lights on for the day. Of course it is brought on by the PH swing but there was never an issue with water quality. Temperature could be a possible contributor as well. Seems to happen in the high heat of summer.

[Dani3d]

MIne grab on just about anything, even the glass. I really regret putting that in my tank as it is nearly impossible to get rid of it and it is very fast grower and it is impossible to remove from liverock once it is attached to it, uless one would boil the thing. I had a foxface for a while and though he ates all of it but once the foxface was gone it just returned so the roots were still there hiding in the rock.

 

So before it get attached anywhere in your aquarium, either put it in your sump and pray that it does not get into your main tank, or just throw it in the garbage!

 

Mine never went sexual and I have it in my tank for a year...had tons of it in my 75 gallons at some point.

 

It will quickly invade all of your existing macro-algae. I had the time of my live separating this junk from my beautiful red algae as it almost killed it. It's a pain!

 

 

Hello,

I received a bag of caulerpa prolifera and I'm not sure how to help it attach. I have tried anchoring it with sand but there are still strands floating around in the water column and the rhizomes are stretching and are pretty long so I'm wondering if they are trying to attach but aren't able to get to the substrate. The plants were pretty jumbled so I just anchored it to the sand in the same jumbled fashion. Should I try to find the runners and carefully anchor those in the sand or between rocks. Also while it does look green in most spots some of it is turning yellow and look a little damage so is that because it is not able to anchor properly or am I not supplying it with enough flow/light etc. I remember reading that prolifera just needed one end to be held down with a rock and the rest would attach eventually ( and quickly) but I have had the plant for a few days and I see little attachment except when the rhizomes are directly into the sand or on a rock work. I guess what is the best way that you all have planted caulerpa prolifera? Is it okay in a tangled mass with a little anchored or to separate the runners and secure against the live rock? I was told by the seller that it could attach to live rock but would it be better with sand? I've attached some photos of the aquarium but I apologize for the blurriness and quality since I had to take them with my phone.

 

-Thanks

Edited October 30, 2011 by Dani3d

[Formula462]

Here, before I get, "Pics or it didn't happen"

 

[Dani3d]

Are you sure it's the prolifera?? Maybe you are confusing with the feather caulerpa wich often cause milky water. Although that milky water never disturbed my tank, nor my coral, nor my fish. In fact my SPS seamed to enjoy it extending their polyps more. It clear up in few hours.

 

I have caulerpa prolifera in 2 different tanks and 3 tanks at some point and in my main tank for more than a year now and it never ever went sexual. Although I had the feather caulerpa turn sexual often.

 

For the feather caulerpa, the trick is to keep it in small bunch that do not touch each other. When ever caulerpa turn sexual, it will turn sexual for all the caulerpa of the same specie that is touching each other. Those that are not touching will not ge sexual, at least not at that time.

 

I've had that stuff turn so many tanks opaque and green. It looks pretty cool up until it decides to jizz all in the water and muck things up.

Edited October 30, 2011 by Dani3d

[Formula462]

No I am not positive on the exact strain of caulerpa. It very well could be feather type. I did not set this tank up, I only help keep it up. It did not spawn like that the first 4 years in it's existence. It started happening when the heat wave would not let up in Texas this summer. As I stated in the earlier post, temp could be a possibility. The room the tank is in was noticeably higher temps over night than usual.

[loyalhero90]

Okay well a reason why I could put caulerpa in my tank was because it is a 5 gal hex and I cannot really tumble cheato or ulva (I think it needs to be tumbled). I also don't have a refugium (not that much space unless I can be successful with a 2.5 gal refugium). If anyone has any info on a better macroalgae that will attach and not have to be tumbled then that would be great. I just am not sure about alternatives except the red algae that I was going to get in the future. I was planning on getting Botryocladia and I know it is good an nutrient export but not as good as caulerpa or cheato or ulva so if anyone has any suggestions that would be nice. If someone has had good experience with caulerpa attaching to their tank and being happy with it that would be appreciated also.

 

thank you all for your comments so far

Edited October 31, 2011 by loyalhero90

[BLoCkCliMbeR]

It happens about 15 minutes after lights on for the day. Of course it is brought on by the PH swing but there was never an issue with water quality. Temperature could be a possible contributor as well. Seems to happen in the high heat of summer.

mine did it during the summer too. it didnt help that the AC went out. coe-inky dink?

 

if it does spunk in the tank, just do a water change, youll be ok. all my fish survived each time, its just ugly

[Ubreak iphix]

Hi, can anyone spare some calerpa?? I just need some for my refugium. I’d gladly pay. My contact email is freemyifone@gmail.com Tanks A Million! 

[This guy is extra salty]

1 hour ago, Ubreak iphix said:

Hi, can anyone spare some calerpa?? I just need some for my refugium. I’d gladly pay. My contact email is freemyifone@gmail.com Tanks A Million! 

I have a few macros check my contest thread for the types, I’m waiting on some tools to prune some. LMK which