I added a clump of razor caulerpa to my main display (yes, I know, big mistake) to help with nutrient export. Instead I got a green hair algae bloom, pretty much right away.

I removed the caulerpa recently, and the hair algae is receding. This is not the first time I have seen this.

Has anyone else seen this sort of connection :question:

I harvest my grape caulerpa at least once per month for the past year and never have had any ill effects observed in my refugium or main display.

I usually pull a couple big handfulls out by hand, not sure how much I actually sever during the process as opposed to removing whole.

I'd have to suspect that a WHOLE LOT of caulerpa would have to be severed in order to produce enough toxins to cause problems severe enough to kill a fish.

I'd be looking elsewhere for the cause, as this just seems to me to be a bit of a stretch.

Just my $0.02

I know the fish may seam like a streach but there are a couple other factore.. one it was old. and two every time I harvested it would act funny for a couple days.. so putting two and two togeather maybe its old age made it more suseptable to the toxins.. this is what I am getting at..

Steve

they are from dozzens of results on a search in yahoo.. it is amazing how much stuff has been written about this. ''Steve

I guess I am still a novice...Why is it bad to add caulerpa directly in the tank? Or is it only some type of caulerpa that is bad when put directly in the tank. I have grape caulerpa in my tank and am wondering now if that is a mistake.

Michael
always learning

Since this chemical is "organic" could it be removed by heavy skimming? Just a dumb question since I don't understand plants yet somehow I can grow various Bonsai :redface: Bonsai/caulerpa somewhere in MY brain there is a conection :redface:

As far as your question regarding noticing similar things happening to tank inhabitants, I have one unsure point.
I harvest a good chuck of caulerpa monthly. Strangely, near the same time a Green Chromis started swimming as if it were blind. This fish has been in the tank since cycling 5 years ago and been through a move in January 1.5 years ago. I thought it was a SuperFish. I also put the fish to rest in the toilet in fear of an unexplained plague and seeing no hope in recovery. If there is a connection here with your observations, I have no idea and no data.

Maybe more frequent carbon changes and pruning could help in the so called problem. Yet none of my tanks in the past have done as good as the current one using caulerpa as a filtration method.

kari

the problem with it in your main tank is it is vary hard to keep under control. I am at the point now whare I fear I am going to have to pull out all my rocks and scour them to remove it. In a sump enviorment you simpley grab and hand full and throw it out.. whare you need to use tweezers and such in the main tank.

Steve

Steve, I feel yourr pain :razz: I am at the exact same point in my tank right now. :frown:


We did this to Lee's tank and now it's totally caulerpa free. Well worth the effort.. I think it's his turn to help me :lol:

Also, I don't think I would have caulerpa in my refugium either. It grows on all my rubble rock and into the sand. If i had a caulerpa i would just have it in a bare bottom 10-15 gal or partition a tank, DSB and rock on one side and caulerpa on the other. No mixing!

Last year I wrote an essay for school on the effects of caulerpenyne, and did a lot of research. One of the surprising things was that the simple presence of caulerpa could prove toxic to a lot of organisms, both directly and indirectly. If you want some published papers to read through on the topic let me know and I'll dig up my citations.

Are you refering to the part whare they release toxins while they are small to discourage anything from overgrowing them then they stop as they get larger and concentrate at growing faster?

That would be great Andrew I would love to read more on this.

Steve