It will cloud the water but the coral seem to like it. I have yet to see my caulerpa prolifera go sexual and do I wish it would because I made the mistake of putting this in my display and it's very prolific! So far after a year it has never gone sexual. Once a caulerpa go sexual it melt away but produce spores that can sprout new plant. I never managed to get new plant from this though, so it seem that the spores are probably being eated.
The caulerpa that looks like a feather does go sexual in my main tank about once or twice per year and when it happen it is by batch. Not all the caulerpa goes sexual at the same time. Then the water become a little cloudy and that is removed by the skimmer in a few hours. My corals always open wide when this happen as they seem to enjoy eating the spores.
It has no effect on fish that I can see.
The caulerpa prolifera seem to never go sexual and it is the best for a refugium because it grow so much faster than the cheato. I would do 2 sections, one with cheato for pods and one with caulerpa prolifera. Tangs love to eat this algea and it is very good for them to do so.
I have a blue hippo tang and a niger triggerfish (both very messy and piggy eaters) in my 75 gallons and always zero nitrates
I have only a Deltec 300 that is running during the day and I shut it down at night. So far after 3 months of feeding them 3 to 4 times per day, still zero nitrates. I have loads of caulerpa in my display tank as I do not have a refugium.
Also choose your liverock wisely because some like the Totoka will export a lot of nitrates as well. A porous rock will filter nitrates out (anaerobic bacterias deep inside porous liverock) as I have this in my aquarium and I beleive that the caulerpa mixed with the Totoka is the key to the zero nitrates in my aquarium.
And last but not least, if you still have a problem with nitrates, then adding a reactor and biopellets will do the job. Must be started very slowly as this can do a bacteria bloom and take all the oxygen in the water and kill the fish.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HL649
I have read that Caulerpa can cause problems if it is allowed to go sexual, is this a real problem? I am looking for something that is idiot proof (at least as idiot proof as you can get with a SW tank).
I am leaning towards using a rock rubble base with a ball of Chaeto. My main goals are for nutrient export and a home for pods.
|