lancer99 October 20, 2008 Share October 20, 2008 Went into the fishroom to do my nightly tank maintenance, only to discover that the water in my 40G breeder frag/growout tank was so cloudy, I could barely see from front to back. After several minutes of panic, discovered that the clump of Caulerpa sertularioides farlowii growing in the back of the tank was ghostly white: First time I've ever had Caulerpa go sexual....I guess it knew it was Fall? After a 50% water change, all the corals are still pretty closed up, but my purple Firefish (the only fish in there) doesn't seem bothered at all. \ -R PS Yes I yanked the Caulerpa after taking the pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gastone October 20, 2008 Share October 20, 2008 Robert, what is your lighting schedule? As much as I hate caulerpa (for my own private reasons, which I refuse to share), I've never had it go "sexual". For the most part I've used 24x7 lighting on my refugia. Perhaps the flip side is that by going sexual it implies that your tank is healthy and mature. On the other hand, your tank could be miserable and dying and that's why it happened. I like to maintain a healthy balance between healthy and dying in my tanks. Darwinism and all that. Garrett. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugar Magnolia October 20, 2008 Share October 20, 2008 http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/nftt/index.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extreme_tooth_decay October 20, 2008 Share October 20, 2008 Caulerpa is like a miracle weed for me. Love the stuff. I have a 40 breeder (fuge) completely full of caulerpa. Keeps my water so clean that 2 months after I added the caulerpa, all my xenia (which I had for years) was dead. I'm sure it was outcompeted for nutrients by the caulerpa. Grows fast, and my tangs will eat 1 gallon of of it in a few days (about once a month I harvest about a gallon) I check it periodically to see if it's turning white. tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highland Reefer October 20, 2008 Share October 20, 2008 Bummer. :( People use Caulerpa all the time without it going sexual on them. I thought it would give you more notice than you obviously received. I only use chaeto currently & was pondering the idea of trying some caulerpa (despite the warnings) because I here so many people use it without problems. Now that I have seen the consequences in your tank, I think I will stay away from it. Sorry for your misfortune. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterTang October 21, 2008 Share October 21, 2008 The part he's leaving out is where he was playing Barry White in his tank room yesterday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancer99 October 21, 2008 Author Share October 21, 2008 Robert, what is your lighting schedule? As much as I hate caulerpa (for my own private reasons, which I refuse to share), I've never had it go "sexual". For the most part I've used 24x7 lighting on my refugia. Perhaps the flip side is that by going sexual it implies that your tank is healthy and mature. On the other hand, your tank could be miserable and dying and that's why it happened. Garrett, it's in the main tank, lights on from about 5-12 p.m. I think I've had one type of Caulerpa or another in every reef tank I've had, and love the stuff. The dire warnings are IMHO silly...you just have to keep it in the sand (where it's easy to remove) and off the rocks (where it's not so easy, but far from impossible to remove). 24 hours later and the water is crystal clear, all the corals are fully expanded, and I don't think my Firefish even noticed it So despite this little bump in the road, I fully intend to keep on keeping Caulerpa. I like to maintain a healthy balance between healthy and dying in my tanks. Darwinism and all that. Garrett. BTW Garrett, my "Borneman" anemone is doing well, would post a pic but it's in a part of the tank where it's impossible to get a good shot. The part he's leaving out is where he was playing Barry White in his tank room yesterday. From now on I'll stick to Barry Manilow. -R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite October 21, 2008 Share October 21, 2008 it happened to me one time a year ago because I got it from someone with one type of lighting, left it in a bucket most of a day where it didn't get light, then put it in my fuge with the light it had, then changed to a different light. That was all in a couple of days' time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancer99 November 1, 2008 Author Share November 1, 2008 Lightning struck twice! The same species of Caulerpa went sexual in my 75G tank. This time I didn't panic (as much ), and since it didn't really have any adverse effects in my 29G tank, I didn't even do a water change....18 hours or so later, and everything was fine. So obviously Caulerpa can go sexual, but maybe the effects are exaggerated? -R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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