Caulerpa serrulata(sp?) early warning signs.

[Telgian]

Hello all,

Recently I've had a good amount of my serrulata go sexual in my tank, so I thought Id share some of my observations.

1. It grows small 5-7mm threads out of the center of the 'frond' that have tiny bulb on the end. You might notice some mirkyness in your tank on this day or the next.

2. The leaf will begin to discolour where the thread has grown, and this will continue outwards.

3. The algae shrivels and goes a brownish green colour.

4. The algae turns yellow.

5. The algae turns yellowish transparent, at this point it has disintegrated enough that you can begin siphoning it out with a turkey baster.

Overall it takes between three and five days to get to the point that you can remove it with the turkey baster.
If it won't come loose I try to remove it again the next day.

So much for my nice volley ball sized clump!

It might help some to break the algae into several different pieces when you are establishing it in your tank. Not all of my serrulata died off at the same time, and some is still intact in my tank. I suspect this is why.

HTH

[Samala]

Excellent informative post! The formation of the spore containing structures, the small balls on the frond of the alga (gametangia I think is the correct term), are the most precise and most immediate signal that things are headed south. That's the point at which I advocate removing it quickly.

Yellowing of the algae is something I havent seen personally, but all of your observations are great info to add to the forum.

Now, as for why some of it goes and not the entire species in a given system, I dont know specifically, though I have my guesses. Hopefully you can reestablish yours quickly.

>Sarah

[graveyardworm]

Originally posted by Samala


Now, as for why some of it goes and not the entire species in a given system, I dont know specifically, though I have my guesses. Hopefully you can reestablish yours quickly.

>Sarah

Perhaps it a happy algae event rather than a starving/stress related event.

[Samala]

David.. certainly possible, I have no evidence to the contrary really, just observations that Caulerpa starved for nitrogen or for phosphorus over varying timescales (days to weeks) will sporulate. I've never experienced it, but also do not let my algae go without accessible water column sources of N, P, Fe. But, perhaps my colonies aren't happy enough!

I was thinking that smaller colonies, since Caulerpa seems to be one large super cell, or at least a string of very large cells, have smaller nutritional requirements to keep it going/growing. Larger colonies, more nutrients. Perhaps the larger colonies feel a nutritional deficiency more quickly as they burn through any potential reserves they have stored in the cell. You'd think they would have proportionately larger reserves of nutrients as compared to smaller colonies though, right? Perhaps in the typically nutrient lean environment of a reef system, they can only store small reserves, which are used more quickly.

Now, a lot of thats a stretch of making connections from various literature.. but its my personal guess.

>Sarah

[graveyardworm]

Is the production of gametangia an unusual sporulation event in aquaria? I thought they generally just loose color and disintegrate.

[Samala]

I have no idea. I'm not sure if it happens quickly and can go unnoticed, or if people are seeing it and not reporting it, or not connecting it to losing their algae.

>Sarah