Caulerpa Is Turning White In Some Places?

[garybuk]

got some red caulerpa in my refugium but it seems to be going white??? is this good or bad?

i have two 22w 5100l bulbs on it ?

can i have plant food to help them? dont wana lose it caulerpa isnt cheap over hear!!!


will too much flow killl or? or maybe too little flow?

 

[Donya]

Color change in Caulerpa generally isn't good. Whether it means doom or something equally bad, I'm not entirely sure since I haven't kept the red species and don't know how much they differ from their green relatives. If by white you mean that the color is dissappearing but the semi-clear husk of the plant is remaning, that could be due to either spores (a non-disaster in my book, since the entire thing doesn't usually do that with most species unless stressed - just make sure there's plenty of O2 in the water), or it could be that stem damage occured and it's losing fluids. Both things cause pretty much the same end appearance in the green species. The light is probably ok, but is it in with anything that might be able to pinch it or otherwise cause damage to the stems? Hermits and snails can both do that IME.

 

[garybuk]

Color change in Caulerpa generally isn't good. Whether it means doom or something equally bad, I'm not entirely sure since I haven't kept the red species and don't know how much they differ from their green relatives. If by white you mean that the color is dissappearing but the semi-clear husk of the plant is remaning, that could be due to either spores (a non-disaster in my book, since the entire thing doesn't usually do that with most species unless stressed - just make sure there's plenty of O2 in the water), or it could be that stem damage occured and it's losing fluids. Both things cause pretty much the same end appearance in the green species. The light is probably ok, but is it in with anything that might be able to pinch it or otherwise cause damage to the stems? Hermits and snails can both do that IME.

Thanks its in my refugium so nothink in that part from pods i think??

i thort the light mite be bleaching it???

 

[Donya]

Usually bright light will only make it grow faster, unless the light is so intense that it's causing some weid temperature spikes up near the surface or something (too much heat can trigger spore release). If the macro isn't right up next to the light at the surface of the water, I wouldn't think the light is what's doing it. If this is new macro that you only added recently and it hasn't grown at all, you may also be seeing fallout from earlier damage if the source handled it too roughly. Also, should've asked before; what other algaes do you have in there? Some macro can out-compete other species pretty well for nutrientsand force it to die back; in the past I've had trouble with Chaeto doing that to a couple Caulerpa species.

 

[Musho3210]

Id just take it all out and switch to chaeto.

 

[chrissaysyes]

Id just take it all out and switch to chaeto.

Agreed.


I have Caulerpa Maxima Prolifera growing in my starfish tank to act as nutrient export since a sump isnt very possible with that tank. It will eventually turn white/transparent as it grows. I always prune these bits. Usually after I do, there is a tremendous growth spike in that area afterwards.

 

[garybuk]

chaeto looks boreing tho! plus i was hopeing to feed my tang/tangs on the caulerpa

 

[Musho3210]

Well lets hope they dont go sexual and suffocate your tank from oxygen. Chaeto is a much better nutrient exporter as well (its dry weight is much higher than caulerpa in volume).

 

[Donya]

It will eventually turn white/transparent as it grows.

I never had any of my Caulerpa species do that when they were both in stable environment and unmolested by herbivores. If I changed the sg on it quickly or subjected it to heat due to sitting in a bucket or something for too long, the more finicky species would do that pretty fast.

lets hope they dont go sexual and suffocate your tank from oxygen.

A situation that's easily preventable (and possible to clear up mid-way through) with extra air supply. Running a tank without that and planning to have macro that can lose its fluids rapidly from damage or go sexual is a bad idea in general.

 

[Musho3210]

As you should already know with fish tanks, anything goes. Easily preventable for caulerpa to go sexual? Doubt that, besides the fact that it can do it if it wants to basically, everyones tank has had its problems. What if the temperature spikes a tiny bit because you turned the air con off or the fan off? What if the caulerpa goes sexual then? A simple mistake in a delicate balance could throw off the caulerpa. Ive had my tank spike up to 93 F without any problems with chaeto, and that was because my air-con was off. Nothing is easily preventable due to the fact that anything can happen to your fish tank.

 

[garybuk]

Is thre anythink eles aswell as cheato that when dies dont release bad stuff! and looks nice?


As cheato is so easy and grows soo fast.... does anybody wana send me some pm me if you do

 

[Donya]

Is thre anythink eles aswell as cheato that when dies dont release bad stuff! and looks nice?


As cheato is so easy and grows soo fast.... does anybody wana send me some pm me if you do

Chaeto can do the same as any other macro species, it's just a lot harder to make it go to sludge under standard tank conditions (assuming you don't overheat it - lost almost all my chaeto that way recently when moving to a new apartment) and it usually doesn't happen as quickly or release quite as big a volume of organic "stuff" into the water.

Easily preventable for caulerpa to go sexual? Doubt that, besides the fact that it can do it if it wants to basically, everyones tank has had its problems. What if the temperature spikes a tiny bit because you turned the air con off or the fan off? What if the caulerpa goes sexual then? A simple mistake in a delicate balance could throw off the caulerpa.

Speaking of Caulerpa species in specifics rather than generalities, I have yet to be able to make razor Caulpera (C. serrulata? darned if I can ever remember that one) go sexual. I've stressed that stuff to the point of it wilting and just plain rotting due to intolerable conditions, but never managed to trigger spores like I've seen from other species. It handles physical damage with very little fluid loss compared to other species as well. Not all Caulerpas are the same in that regard. I'm sure someone out there has managed to make that species of razor Caulerpa make some spores, but after a lot of deliberate efforts in buckets to test the resilience of that species, it seems pretty hardy - unless, of course, you overheat it to the point that chaeto melts too. Cooked macro is never happy macro. Now, some of the more notorious feather Caulerpas on the other hand...if you sneeze in the room with those you might cause them to make spores.

Anyway, in regards to preventability, I'm not speaking of preventing macro from going sexual. I'm referring to the tank nuke being easily preventable if something wipes out the macro - and going sexual isn't the only thing that can. Some macro is easy to wipe out just by being too rough with it. One of my Turbos chopped a big Caulerpa stem in half when munching and caused almost the whole mass to empty its fluids into my tank in a few minutes. I've also had my snails and hermits cause physical damage that made sections go sexual in response to stress in my other tanks. It's a bad idea to set up a tank with any living thing without planning for the inevitable "stuff happens" situation involving that living thing. You don't have to let your tank be nuked by the impending risk of O2 deprivation; that's a tank/equipment design choice. A water change even as late as at the end of the day to get the green gook out and having backup air supply going the whole time just in case is really all you need as a preventative measure. Someone brought up the issue of surface agitation being sufficient before, but the issue I've found is that the agitation just from powerhead won't deal with the organic films that can form pretty fast. You really need something popping the surface of the water to break up films or a more sophisticated diffusion system.

 

[chrissaysyes]

Check ebay for cheap chaetomorpha. Ive always bought it there. You'll get loads of pods and maybe some random caulerpa mixed in.

 

[Musho3210]

Is thre anythink eles aswell as cheato that when dies dont release bad stuff! and looks nice?


As cheato is so easy and grows soo fast.... does anybody wana send me some pm me if you do

Chaeto can do the same as any other macro species, it's just a lot harder to make it go to sludge under standard tank conditions (assuming you don't overheat it - lost almost all my chaeto that way recently when moving to a new apartment) and it usually doesn't happen as quickly or release quite as big a volume of organic "stuff" into the water.

Easily preventable for caulerpa to go sexual? Doubt that, besides the fact that it can do it if it wants to basically, everyones tank has had its problems. What if the temperature spikes a tiny bit because you turned the air con off or the fan off? What if the caulerpa goes sexual then? A simple mistake in a delicate balance could throw off the caulerpa.

Speaking of Caulerpa species in specifics rather than generalities, I have yet to be able to make razor Caulpera (C. serrulata? darned if I can ever remember that one) go sexual. I've stressed that stuff to the point of it wilting and just plain rotting due to intolerable conditions, but never managed to trigger spores like I've seen from other species. It handles physical damage with very little fluid loss compared to other species as well. Not all Caulerpas are the same in that regard. I'm sure someone out there has managed to make that species of razor Caulerpa make some spores, but after a lot of deliberate efforts in buckets to test the resilience of that species, it seems pretty hardy - unless, of course, you overheat it to the point that chaeto melts too. Cooked macro is never happy macro. Now, some of the more notorious feather Caulerpas on the other hand...if you sneeze in the room with those you might cause them to make spores.

Anyway, in regards to preventability, I'm not speaking of preventing macro from going sexual. I'm referring to the tank nuke being easily preventable if something wipes out the macro - and going sexual isn't the only thing that can. Some macro is easy to wipe out just by being too rough with it. One of my Turbos chopped a big Caulerpa stem in half when munching and caused almost the whole mass to empty its fluids into my tank in a few minutes. I've also had my snails and hermits cause physical damage that made sections go sexual in response to stress in my other tanks. It's a bad idea to set up a tank with any living thing without planning for the inevitable "stuff happens" situation involving that living thing. You don't have to let your tank be nuked by the impending risk of O2 deprivation; that's a tank/equipment design choice. A water change even as late as at the end of the day to get the green gook out and having backup air supply going the whole time just in case is really all you need as a preventative measure. Someone brought up the issue of surface agitation being sufficient before, but the issue I've found is that the agitation just from powerhead won't deal with the organic films that can form pretty fast. You really need something popping the surface of the water to break up films or a more sophisticated diffusion system.

Ok, lets say that going sexual is not a thing to worry about too much (still more serious than cheato, but ok, maybe its not as bad as other caulerpas).

Whats your next problem

What if does release some (doesnt melt, but releases some spores) and it "attacks" your main tank. Don't forget this is a rooting macro algae, next, its one of the least commonly eaten macro algae, if your tang etc. eat it, great, basically you got lucky. Manual removal, good luck removing it all (including the roots) without releasing any spores.

Do a google search (razor caulurpa), the third link, read it. Some people who were unlucky enough to have it in their main tank, possibly through refugium spores, or simply putting it in the main tank.

To wrap it up, cheato is a much more efficent nutrient exporter in terms of space, their dry weight is much higher, and they require less space.


EDIT: And i do recall the OP talking about red caulpera, not razor.

 

[garybuk]

Would a uv not stop this from getting into the main tank? what ever we talking about cos im completley lost hear