Caulerpa Question

[mannyp1313]

Ok.. i'm still fairly new so I apologize for the dumb question I"m about to ask.... Oh, and for the record I have a 12g NanoCube.

 

WEnt to the LFS with an issue I'm facing with Nitrate spikes. I've had my tank for about 3 months and i went through 2 cyles, and suddenly my Nitrates shot up. So i did a water change, removed the charcoal from my tank, and put in some chemipure. At this point, I am thinking about building a fuge/refugium, but this will have to wait a couple of months for financial reasons.

 

Anyway, the guy at the LFS sold me on the idea of buying some Grape Caulerpa they "happen to have" laying around to "eat" the nitrates. He suggested that I put it in a filter bag to keep it from growing in my tank since I don't have a fuge.

 

Question is.... is this a good thing to do? I've seen the Caulerpa horror stories and I"m very worried... not to mention the fact that this is the same idiot that sold me a purple nudibranch and said that it would eat algae....

 

Any advice would be appreciated!!

[NorCalTRD]

From what I have heard, grape caluerpa needs a rather long light cycle to make sure that it does not go "sexual". I have been told 12 hours or more per day to make sure that it doesn't do this. I wasnt willing so i went with chaeto. Much better suited and wont ever go sexual. If you have to have caluerpa, then caluerpa prolifera is the best choice as it is least likely to do this.