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View Full Version : macroalgae vs. mangroves


ReefSharkDudeGuy
06/17/2003, 05:02 PM
I was wondering first if there is a prevalent specie of macroalgae or caulerpa that is the ideal specimen for a refugium as far as growth and nutrient export go.

I have an Ecosystem 60 on my tank (if i knew more when i got into the hobby i would've created my own refugium) and there are two types of caulerpa growing in there. One is the blade form (sorry I'm not too familiar with algae species names at this point) and the other looks like a fern. The fern species seems to have lots of cyano and microalgaes growing on it while the blade form doesnt. I'd like to get rid of the microalgae thats back there, so I was wondering if some species of caulerpa promote microalgae growth more than others.

My second question was whether macroalgae, mangroves, or a combination of the two works best for export of nutrients.

Tha dude

ReefSharkDudeGuy
06/17/2003, 05:11 PM
OK, i think I've identified the fern-like species as C. sertularioides and the blade-like one to be C. serrulata.

SeanT
06/18/2003, 01:38 PM
Chaetomorpha (Spaghetti algae) is a favorite.
It doesn't go sexual and removes nutrients rather well.
It is also easy to trim away.

FWIW, I have read that it takes a lot of mangroves in order to get a significant amount of nutrients removed.

ReefSharkDudeGuy
06/18/2003, 03:28 PM
Thanx for tha reply. I'm not too familiar with Chaetomorpha, but I looked it up on the internet and some places are labeling it as a "nuisance" species. I'm reluctant to believe that, unless they are referring to its being located in the display tank. Anyway, how easy is it for some of the filaments to make it into the main tank and grow after clipping them in the refugium? I've already had an outbreak of the feather caulerpa and I don't want another one of those!

Also, how many mangroves are we talking about for sufficient nutrient export? And does light aid in their growth so that they can take up more nutrients as larger specimens? Thanks again.