macroalgae

True, there is no need to tie it down.  However there is also nothing wrong with using a rubberband in your tank.  Many of us use them to tie down corals until they attach.

Also there is nothing wrong with keeping different kinds together.

ssilcox wrote: I have to disagree with keeping many types together. I have heard quite often that the "competition" between many macro's may cause them to either die off or in the case of caleurpa go sexual.

I had this happen in my 10G a couple of weeks ago, though I'm not sure that's what caused it it would be my guess.  Luckily nothing died, but I've had a horrible hair algae/ cyano bacteria problem ever since.  If you have more than one type, just keep them on opposite sides of the tank.

I've got Caulerpa racemosa peltata entangled with Chaeto mixed with a little xenia and a touch of halameda in my sump.  No die off, but it's only been a few months...

I did have a massive Caulerpa die-off in December not due to mixed algaes though.

jfinch wrote: I've got Caulerpa racemosa peltata entangled with Chaeto mixed with a little xenia and a touch of halameda in my sump.  No die off, but it's only been a few months... I did have a massive Caulerpa die-off in December not due to mixed algaes though.

Appears I've spoken too soon.  I left for the meeting tonight with a crystal clear tank and a sump full of healthy macros.  I came home to a cloudy tank and my Caulerpa midway through dissolving.  Here's a quick pic of some of the algae.

You can see just a section has started to go clear and soft and dissolved .  I don't know why this has happened to me twice in the last three months, but it won't happen again.  I've removed all caulerpa from my sump.  It's Chaeto for me now.

Geofish,  If you need any algae feel free to PM me.  We've got plenty to share. 

Renee

Geofish, that is okay.  It is probably racemosa.  And come on you have to admit that is fun to say.  Wrass-uh-Mo-suh.  Not as fun as Carlos's Abudefduf but still fun to say.

racemosa

Adam

Mark,  as I'm sure you know, I skim very aggressively.  The sump was getting pretty full (20 gallons) when it crashed.  I had been meaning to harvest this week but never got around to it.  No macro's in the main tank except for a very small handful that I feed the tang every couple days.  If there's any truth to crowded caulerpa going sexual I'd say I had those conditions .  I really know better... just lazy.  Now all I have is a few stalks of xenia and a big ball of chaeto.  The tank's crystal clear again and I went back to wet skimming in an effort to get the organics before they break down any further.

The best way it seems is simply to keep the amount of caulerpa proportionate to the available nutrients. If caulerpa "feels" that their isn't enough food for it's growth it will "go sexual" which means it seeks out greener pastures by dissolving and releasing it's gametes into the water column, along with all the nitrate, phosphate, silicate, etc.. that it was holding onto. A few things can lead to this, including sudden increased competition from other consumers (including coraline algae, other macros, LR etc..) or too much of itself, over-skimming (though even with aggressive skimming I think their would still be some elements available for a limited amount of certain types), or a sudden reduction in feeding without a reduction in Caulerpa mass. Preventing this comes down to trimming back the amount of Caulerpa regularly to keep it growing and consuming nutrients. Additionally I've learned adding some Chelated Iron in a plant food form (Kent Marine makes one, stear clear of common plant varieties as many contain alot of phosphate) will help make the caulerpa more resillient and consequently less likely to "jump ship" at the first sign of trouble. I haven't had it happen since I've done this and I believe Suzy uses it and hasn't had a problem yet either, is that right Suzy?

Of course if this all seems like too much trouble and risk their is always Chaetomorpha as Jon says he's switching to. Which, while not being as aggressive a consumer as Caulerpa, will not go sexual, it simply doesn't grow while nutrients are lacking. Though I think even it would eventually die off, if nutrients are too long missing, and dissolve causing a similar problem.

I say Wrass-uh-Mo-suh, you say Race-ah-Mo-suh, Let's call the whole thing grape.

Really sorry, couldn't control my instincts on that one. I'm all for proper terminology.