Caulerpa dying!

[Midnight_Madman]

I added a nice peice of liverock to my fuge with some Caulerpa and it is slowly turning brown gray and dying! I added it about 4 days ago. I keep the light on 24 hours but it looks like it is dying off... what can I do? My water chemistry looks good.

[GraviT]

There are a few things that can lead to caulerpa demise. Low water temperature, Iron deficiency or inadequate lighting could all be possible things to look at. For more information on iron deficiency, have a look at

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/aug2002/chem.htm

[Midnight_Madman]

Its turning grey only half way down from the longest leafs. I have a small fuge only about 10x8 or so. and i have a 15watt coralife daymax bub on it. I have a eclipse daylight bulb that I might try, its a much more yellow spectrum. What is the best spectrum for caulerpa?

[GraviT]

I'm not sure what the best would be, my fuge has some razor caulerpa under an 18 watt, 6500K power compact fixture and the stuff is growing like mad. Maybe one of the pros around here have an opinion?

[Midnight_Madman]

It is still dying.. I dont know what else to do. I doubled the light. Now I have one 18 watt coralife daymax and one eclipse daylight bulb. I keep both on 12 hours and 1 on 24 hours... water all looks pretty good Sal. is 1.23 temp is about 79

[Speedy]

Ehhhh, can you post any pics? What kinda calerpa are you growing?

Give the plant some rest. Drop the lights for about 8 hours. Providing at least 8 hours of darkness stimulates growth in most plants, macro, and specially micro algaes.

Oh! and trim, trim your calerpa. Very important. Let me know how it goes.

[Midnight_Madman]

Here is a pic. Should I do the reverse schedule.. fuge on at night, main tank on in the day?

[Speedy]

MMmmm. yeah I would trim the dead stuff right off. trimming stimulates growth. You should also try some grape calerpa. I think it's great.

[Midnight_Madman]

I just pruned back any of the dead stuff and I have the lights off. I will turn then back on late tonight... and follow a reverse lighting pattern. Hey do you have any extra grape you can send me? I will pay the shipping.
Thanks

[GraviT]

I personally advise a 24/7 lighting schedule for caulerpa in a refugium. Light cycling can actually cause the algae to go 'sexual', often resulting in the stuff winding up in your main tank. While this is desirable to some, it can in time become a nuisance when you can't seem to get rid of it.

Just my opinion though, there are many that recommend alternating light cycles with the main tank.