calerpa or chaeto

[joncat24]

I currently have calerpa in my fuge and was wondering if I would be better off to go with chaeto instead. I have been reading the horror strories of claerpa going sexual and destroying the whole reef. I can feed the calerpa to my tangs and get some chaeto if U guys think that would be better. Kinda want a poll type resonse to let me know what everyone is using....thanks

 

[thomas712]

I for one have used both and would suggest that you go with the Chaetomorpha, in the proper atmosphere its a good grower and so far has not let me down. I have experienced the sexual behavior of the other and hope never to repeat it.
Thomas

 

[sharkbait9]

Originally Posted by Thomas712
I for one have used both and would suggest that you go with the Chaetomorpha, in the proper atmosphere its a good grower and so far has not let me down. I have experienced the sexual behavior of the other and hope never to repeat it.
Thomas
Lol, you can say that again. Go with chaetomorpha.

 

[puffer32]

Originally Posted by Thomas712
I for one have used both and would suggest that you go with the Chaetomorpha, in the proper atmosphere its a good grower and so far has not let me down. I have experienced the sexual behavior of the other and hope never to repeat it.
Thomas
I have calpera in my fuge, replaced the chaeto 3 times cause it kept dieng, so I went with calapera, its growing great. So what exactly is the sexual story behind your post? Or yours sharkbait, need details???

 

[gatorwpb]

I have both Cheato and Claeaurpa in my fuge. I stuck with the caleurpa FOR NOW, only because the cheato died off some. I read someone post on here couple days ago that a 24/7 light cycle would prevent caleurpa from gong sexual, but I dont necessarily believe it.
Just keep an eye out for large pieces of caleurpa turning white and you would be ok. Also, if you trim the caleurpa every month or so once its fully grown, it wont go sexual.
But saying all that, I do plan on switching to full cheato soon.

 

[thomas712]

How did your chaeto die off some?
Size fuge?
Lighting?
Flow through?

 

[gatorwpb]

I think that mine died off some because of the shipping. It might have gotten a little too hot for it on the way. My fuge is a 20 gal long, with 26w of PC lighting and about 400 gph through it.
It has since grown back some, but not enough to fill the fuge, so Ive kept the caleurpa growing. I plan on ordering a larger batch of cheato and overnighting it, rather than using standard mail.
The caleurpa was free, I'm just hesitant to pay $60+ for cheato w/shipping because I cant find any locally.

 

[sandi]

Could someone please give more info. on the claerpa sexual behavior and what happens to the tank when this happens. I have this in my tank and have never heard of this. Please more info!

 

[thomas712]

You could have a problem when you have a large quantity of Caulerpa that goes what is called "Sexual"
The downside of it doing this is that it could consume large amounts of oxygen in the system and create a cloud of free swimming gametes that use up the oxygen in the system and produce a lot of CO2. This can cause a drastic lowering of pH and can affect your inverts which may start dieing at that point and produce a start of an ammonia spike that could very well be hard to control. The caulerpa then relesese its stored up nitrates and phosphates into the water column in a cloud that will produce other algae blooms like hair algae and cyanobacteria.
Chaeto usually does not have this problem and has become much more desired form of macro algae. My suggestion would be to go with just the chaeto and allow it to flourish without caulerpa to fight for the nutrient uptake.
Thomas

 

[thomas712]

GatorWPB ~ If you already have some chaeto the you should not have to purchase anymore. Simply remove the caulerpa and allow the chaeto time to grow. I got a double hand full from Beth here, and in a few months I was taking out 5 gallon buckets of the stuff from my 55 gallon fuge.
Thomas

 

[gatorwpb]

Originally Posted by Thomas712
GatorWPB ~ If you already have some chaeto the you should not have to purchase anymore. Simply remove the caulerpa and allow the chaeto time to grow. I got a double hand full from Beth here, and in a few months I was taking out 5 gallon buckets of the stuff from my 55 gallon fuge.
Thomas
Thanks Thomas.

I'll try it this weekend.

 

[joncat24]

Ok, here's the deal. I took everyones suggestions and got me some cheato. Alos got some red Gracilla (sp) . I laready have a pretty large amount of calerpa in my 55 fuge, so I took some of it out to feed all may tangs. I plan on weeding it out slowly this way. Should I leave the fuge lights on 24/7 or not. I have always left them on the past. But waht is best for the chaeto and should I just get rid of the calerpa all at once or not? thanks for any help

 

[joncat24]

Bump

 

[helpme74]

bump