Agggggghh!!!! Sexual Calurpa!!!

[owlett]

MY GRAPE CALURPA IS GOING SEXUAL!
My tank went green in about a two hour period and all my calurpa is transparent and has little hair like things poking out of it!!!
My b/f had to pull all of the calurpa out of the tank that was clear and the glass is getting green film on it! I put carbon in my filter to help clear it out, why did this happen???

 

[thomas712]

Can't say I understand the whole thing on this but with my experience with it in the 55 gallon , I have had the whole thing turn white, I immediatly take it out of the tank. I have had small bits of it go white, I trim those parts off as soon as I see it.
Reverse lighting on a fuge and it can still happen, keeping it trimed and it can still happen. Lighting it 24/7 and it can still happen.
Calurpa from my understanding needs some amount of iron to help it not go sexual, or maybe just to grow, can't remember.
At this point I would not just run carbon but do a water change as the calurpa has now deposited all the nitrates and other things that algea just loves into the water colum.
Just my thoughts on it
Thomas

 

[goldrush]

You are right about Caulerpa needing Iron. I dose my refugium once a week and have not had a problem.

 

[owlett]

iron? where do I find that? I thought it needed iodine?
My fish clownfish died last night too, do you think that it was from the carlupa???
the water seems clear now but there is green film all of the glass that's hard to scrape off.

 

[overanalyzer]

I believe that the sexual macro algea would suck the oxygen out of the water and thus your fish dies from lack of Oxygen

 

[eng50]

Light has a lot to do with it going sexual as well...If I forget and leave my light on 24 hrs over refugium, then in 2 days it goes sexual, when it is on the usual reverse photoperiod (refugium lights on at night) all is fine, and I just harvest it every week or so. HTH
Bill

 

[goldrush]

My lights are on 24/7. Kent makes Iron. The dose is 7-8 drops a week in refugium. I'm not a big chemical fan,but it does wonders.

 

[owlett]

ok thanks guys you are alot of help! I will start adding iron from now on.