Caulerpa Confusion

The world of Caulerpa macroalgae is confusing and peppered with misinformation as many sources for photos as they are not always correctly labeled (especially when searching Google).

I've spoken to several people who have had very positive experiences with Caulerpa in their refugiums, but they are no consistent with name usage. I know that some caulerpa are not as affective in refugiums and some are problematic. I've heard the terms 'giant', feather, grape and Caulerpa cupressoides var. lycopodium yet they are not all the same.

This gets more confused when buying from even reputable sources because sometimes the sources are always clear about what it is they have.

Can someone(s) hep sets me straight?

 

When it comes to macro algae, there are a lot old wive's tails and whatnot, esp. the "OMG it'll go sexual and nuke your tank".

The only consistent, 100% sure way to discuss them is by using the binomial names for them. For instance, "feather" Caulerpa can be C. taxifolia, C. serrulata, or C. mexicana.

HTH

 

That does speak to the heart of the problem.

Is there one of these that us more highly regarded for refugium use? If so, I'm happy to do the research on a favored selection. Thanks.

 

Hate to tell you, but that's not an old wives' tale. Mainly because I'm not a wife (I won't dispute the old ). I lost a tank to grape caulerpa going sexual when I was away for a weekend, and a local LFS here lost a lot of livestock due to grape caulerpa going sexual in their shared sump system overnight. Those are the 2 that I can verify as fact.

As for correct ID, try Image Search :: Algaebase

 

Caulerpa is bad news any day from Sunday.

 

If you keep an eye on it and keep it trimmed, caulerpa's not too bad, but I wouldn't put it in a display because it takes over (unless that's what you want, and it will take over to the detriment of everything else). We have feather caulerpa that came in on our original chaeto. Every 2 weeks I pull out as much as I can get hold of, usually a big handful. 2 weeks later it's back and shading what we don't want it to shade.

I prefer chaeto and dragon's breath algae (halymenia) in our fuge.

 

Very helpful database. Thank you.

Not sure what I'm doing wrong: was able to pull up 'grape caulerpa' but not 'feather caulerpa' using common names: Search Common Names :: Algaebase

Regarding the 'feather' caulerpa, do you run your fuge light 24/7? I'm hearing that this is what keeps if from going sexual.

Why do you prefer the dragon's breath algae (halymenia) over the feather? Does it do a better job or simply easier to manage growth wise?

Thanks!

 

What works for one may or may not work for another. I started my refugium years ago with Cheato and Grape Caulerpa. Since then my little personal swamp has taken on a life of its own growing all sorts of Macro’s and even bacteria. I have a constant film of Cyano on the surface, many macro’s I can’t identify (mostly because I can’t see them well and I know enough not to touch the refugium). The only time I do anything is to trim the Caulerpa and at that its only when the strands climb over the wall into the next compartment. I never touch the inside of the refugium – ever. I have never had an instance of my macro’s going asexual.

Anyway, refugium lighting…..I run a reverse photo period from my display tank in order to further stabilize my PH. When the lights are off the Macro’s take in O2 and release CO2 – the reverse of day time activity. CO2 can drop PH – thus, running a reverse photo period from the DT you can attempt to achieve a constant PH rather than spikes. This is just one thought – some run their lights 24/7 in the refugium as to avoid going asexual.
In my albeit unqualified opinion – start a refugium with small macro’s and let the system grow them to where they need to be. Don’t fuss with the refugium as its not intended to be bothered. Occasional trimming (to the extent you don’t stir the fuge is fine).

Caulerpa Identification: http://www.usc.edu/org/seagrant/caulerpa/SpeciesKey/index.html

 

I've never kept Caulerpa, but here's a helpful link.

A Warning Sign of Impending Caulerpa Sporulation by Gene Schwartz - Reefkeeping.com

 

I'd say Chaetomorpha is the most widely used "fuge macro"...it's not Caulerpa at all, it won't go sexual, it's easy to grow, and once it takes, you just yank out a handful or two (be sure to grab the pods out of it by swishing it in a bucket of SW before tossing it). Cheato likes to be tumbled if you can swing it, but otherwise just give it some light and some flow. Cheato isn't very pretty (looks like a green Brillo pad), so most don't use it in DT's, altho I have done so.

The "old wive's tale" may have been the wrong phrase, but it was used for lack of a better phrase. It's kinda like "deadly lionfish are bad because they will sting you" or "SH are hard to keep". Both are partially true, but not really correct. But I digress...

The fast-growers like racemosa and taxifolia and their variants are indeed the most likely to go sexual, but they will also "tell" you they're about to do so.

In fact, we even let one of our systems "blow" just to see what happened...the water got cloudy, but carbon and a modest WC took care of it. No livestock was lost.

We keep live macro in most of our 14 setups (FOWLR), and I have nothing but good things to say about them.