In search of...Macroalgae

[JavlaVikin]

Hi there,
Can anyone recommend where I can order or
obtain macroalgae for my refugium?
As I've heard bad things about caulerpa ,I'm trying to
find chaetomorpha, gracilaria, halimeda, etc.

any advice w/b most apppreciated.cheers.

[Delphinus]

You can try the usual MO suspects, www.saltwaterconnection.com, www.jlaquatics.com, www.aquariumpros.ca maybe.

One note though: halimeda is also prone to sporulation similar to caulerpa, although typically not as frequently, it definitely can do this on you from time to time.

[Samw]

If you want some locally, you can try Ocean Aquatics.

[JavlaVikin]

Thanks very much for the info and advice.
I didn't think it would be that easy.thanks again.

[Dorkel Marine 1]

:shock: Can you give more details on the not so good things about caulerpa and halimeda. I have one tank with a fair amount of Halimeda and the other with some caulerpa.

8) Thanks in advance

George and Family

[JavlaVikin]

sure,
This is how I understand it ...someone might correct me afterwards...

These algae are asexual and from time to time swill sporulate releasing
gametes (spores) into the system that can disturb/injure some corals as well as degrade the visibility in the main tank.

I've also read that Caulerpa brachypus (the miniature version) - is so small that the effects are minimized.

cheers.

[Delphinus]

It seems to me that there are sort of two reasons why caulerpa and halimeda going sexual, or sporulating, are an inconvenience.

The first is, it makes your water stinky and cloudy and it usually takes about a full day for it all to settle out or get filtered out.

The second is, the nature of the sporulating event itself. Basically a piece of the "plant" expodes (you usually just see the white or clear shell of the plant afterwards, it's no longer green). What's happened is that everything that was stored inside of this thing, is now released into the water. And that includes all the nitrates, phosphates, etc. that were absorbed during the growth process. I once had a tank go from 0ppm to >80ppm NO3 overnight, due to a particularly large sporulation event. You can imagine the stress this put on the animals in there.

So the trick is with this stuff, if you decide to have some in your tank, is to keep it well under control. Keep pruning it regularly. The less there is of it to sporulate, the less damage that can be done when it happens.

Or, alternatively, don't bother to have it in the first place. Depends on how disciplined you are at keeping the stuff under control, I suppose..

HTH ...

[Dorkel Marine 1]

Thank-you guys for the info.
George

[BCOrchidGuy]

I've read, so I can't confirm this myself but, I've read that it only goes asexual when the lights go off, this is why some people keep the 24 hour light cycle going on their refugiums. So far I don't use a 24 hour light cycle on my refugium because I have a pair of tomato clowns living in there. I may however set up a seperate 20 gallon tank for them and put my refugium on the 24/7 cycle.