Jump to content
Cultivated Reef

Caluerpa in tank: good or bad?


Joxer the Mighty

Recommended Posts

Joxer the Mighty

Hi everyone,

 

The subject pretty much says it all. I'm considering adding some caluerpa to my 12g Eclipse, mainly because I like the  way it looks. I'd love to hear  pros and cons to doing so. I've read that caluerpa is a good way of dealing with extra nutrients, I've also heard that it can overtake a tank. Does it really grow so fast  that it can't be kept under control with weekly pruning? Would it eventually cover my live rock and kill off the coraline?

Link to comment

it is a good thing and will reduce excess nutrients wchich will reduce algae outbreaks. it will also reduce nitrates. you can get bubble or fern type and it grows slower. weekly pruning should be fine with this type. it should not overtake your whole tank as long as you maintain it regularly and it hsould not kill y our coralline.

Link to comment

It totally depends on the species of caulerpa. I have three types, green bubble, red bubble, and blade. Red Bubble is very pretty and grows the slowest, then comes the blade and green bubble. The GB has to be pruned every few days because it grows really fast. Besides that, they are very healthy for your tank...

gaber

Link to comment
Joxer the Mighty

Thanks for the info, helped out a lot! Wish me luck in my search for some red bubble in So. Cal.

Link to comment

you might consider adding a refugium for this stuff.  i had some red leafy macro algae on a rock in my aquarium (i don't think it was caulerpa though), and i witnessed a bristle worm come out from under a rock, grab the last leaf of it from the rock, and duck back under.  i don't know whether all bristle worms feed on macro, but the ones that do probably eat caulerpa too.  fortunately i had already grabbed a few leaves from the rock and stuck them in my refugium before it was all eaten up!  the stuff exploded in my refugium and it is highly attractive for a leaf algae in my opinion.

Link to comment
Quote: from Joxer the Mighty on 12:05 pm on May 21, 2002[br]Thanks for the info, helped out a lot! Wish me luck in my search for some red bubble in So. Cal.

 

Just realize that most LFS won't sell most caluerpa anymore because of the restriction/ban on caluerpa.

Link to comment
Son Of Skyline

My LR is totally overrun with caulerpa. The bad thing is that my caulerpa is brittle, but its roots are strong so as soon as I try to pull it off it just breaks. It's getting to the point that it's starting to reach for my corals and I have to do my best to trim it every other day. My advice is to be careful and keep it in check before it takes over.

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...