Cali Kid Corals

Macroalgae ID?

IOnceWasLegend

Frag Swap Coordinator
BOD
I'm thinking caulpera prolifera but not sure. Any help is appreciated!

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I'm in Roseville. I'll be breaking it down within the next week or two, but am considering throwing some in my refugium on my DT. Anything I should know/be concerned about before doing that?
That's a bit of a drive. I assume you'll be at Cos's for the swap?

As to what to be concerned about is make sure it stays in the refugium. It's better than chaeto for nutrient export, but you have to be sure it doesn't go sexual. Keep it spread out and prune back do it's not overcrowded.
 
I'm in Roseville. I'll be breaking it down within the next week or two, but am considering throwing some in my refugium on my DT. Anything I should know/be concerned about before doing that?
keep pruning it, never let it just sit around too long. I had it go sexual a few times, and every time I had gotten lazy and hadn't prune it back.
 
I'm in Roseville. I'll be breaking it down within the next week or two, but am considering throwing some in my refugium on my DT. Anything I should know/be concerned about before doing that?
I wouldn’t. There are downsides and no upsides. It was popular 20 years ago before we learned better. Like Miracle mud lol
 
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I wouldn’t. There are downsides and no upsides. It was popular 20 years ago before we learned better. Like Miracle mud lol
You're giving me flashbacks to my reef tank 15yrs ago when I thought the bit of caulpera that got in my tank was cool. That then turned into a nightmare of trying to pull out impossible to get runners from rocks.

That was the grape kind though, if I remember right. Never. Again.
 
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No I'm a new reefer. The algae went bad. How?
Caulerpa has been known to quickly enter a dangerous stage of releasing a lot of propagation material (Spores? Gametes?) all at once while the parent colony dies off partially or fully. In the process releasing a lot of nutrients and also releasing a toxin that is normally in its tissue to keep herbivores away. This can crash the tank. When people say it’s going sexual or asexual, it’s used basically interchangeably, meaning it is spreading in a way it does only rarely but that causes trouble. I think sexual is the correct term but either gets the point across.

It’s not common at all, but once is too many times. It’s one of the several reasons not to keep it.
 
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