Grape Caulerpa

[Bygkid]

I was curious how many peeps out there keep the C. racemosa variety in the refugia?
I recently aquired a small piece that seems to thrive in my refugium next to the Chaeto. It is already 2 times what I brought home from the LFS(they gave to me free) about a week ago. I currently have my refugium lighting on from 7pm - 8 am.
I haven't much worried about the Chaeto breaking off and 'wandering' in to my display. Most anything that is green usually doesn't stand a chance of survival between the appetites of my Yellow tang, Hippo and Magnificant foxface. I have read about this type of Caulerpa with mixed info.
Would appreciate some practical experience and opinions.
Thanks,
Scott

[Lucky-rc]

wow be careful with this stuff. It is very pretty IMO. but very hardy as well. I put some in my D.T. the tangs love it as does most every thing else I have. BUT, every little piece that breaks off will begin a new patch. I had to get rid of it in my D.T. cause it was getting out of control... This was a job. I'm talking about a tooth brush on every tiny little piece that was in the crack of a rock Ha! I never want to go throught that again.

Keep it in your fuge and your good.

Lucky

[2thdeekay]

I would use caulerpa in system housing fish, but not corals, especially with fish that keep it in control. Watch out, as caulerpa eventually will go asexual (sometimes after years), and it can cause a mass bleaching event for your corals.

I still keep a little, but trim it back well & frequently. Vast majority of macro alga bulk in my fuge is cheato. My tangs love to eat it, so I grow it for them.

[kaptken]

I have gone thru the same trauma as lucky but with a viariety of caulerpas, like the racemosa and taxifolia. once they put down a hold fast, they seem capable of starting new plants from the tiniest of roots, no matter how much you pluck out of the tank. My solution has been to cure the rock in the dark, a covered barrel , for several months, until it dies off. air stone and heater help preserve the live rock,bugs and sponges.

[AnOldSalt]

I might be a bit of a weirdo in this regard, but I love Caulerpas, all of them, and actually grow them on purpose. I'm not exactly the Takashi Amano of saltwater, but I do like to build heavily planted macroalgae tanks.

One thing I can certainly tell you is that the word "dynamic" most certainly applies. You will see a lot of rising & falling of your algae, with one or a few species enjoying dominance for awhile, and then falling back to be replaced by other kinds for another while, and so on back and forth again and again. It's really very interesting to watch, and these guys grow SO fast that you can actually get a new landscape ( seascape? tankscape? ) every couple of weeks.

By the way, you'll be pruning it back quite a bit as well. It won't be unusual for you to remove several POUNDS of the stuff from your tank each month if all goes well.

Round-grape racemosa is one of the species that is a bit tricky to get established, but once it does there's no stopping it. The flatter C.r.peltata version is easier, and it will rapidly outgrow pretty much anything else in the tank.

Oh, wait.. you said refugiums. Yes, I use it in those, too, and the C.r.peltata is the one I would use in a fuge since it's such an incredible grower and nutrient sponge. Chaeto is a better choice, but if you want Caulerpa, it's a good one to pick. Mexicana and taxifolia and even prolifera give you a better contact time by having more surface area, but they don't grow as fast and are prone to their problems. Grapes have problems as well, but I find them to be a lot more stable than the others.