calupra illegal!

[eeldarb21]

I just got off the phone with this respectable guy at a local fish store.... i am looking for some calupra to put into my fuge tank i'm going to build this weekend. He tells me the health board or some dumb place passed a law to ban calupra.. the green, not the red. Get that! I guess because it spreads like a plauge everywhere and lazy people dispose of it into our sewers and it ends up in our lagoons.. here in southern cali.. What a crock! Now he tells me the only way to get it is from someone who harvest it, or order it from someone on e-bay. I really don't know what to do, i am going to need some for my fuge. He also pointed out that one guy he knew (customer) said some guys from the health board came over and watched him pour bleach into his fuge to kill exsisting calupra... pretty insane i guess... anyone got some?? i need it! LOL

 

[plhsurfer]

Saw the same thing on a PBS special.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/algae/about.html
And found these while doing a little search on Google.
http://www.projectpacific.org/caulerpa_taxifolia.html
http://www.ecosystemaquarium.com/html/caulerpaban.html

 

[entice59]

actually, just a little piece can grow with in a short time. I remember when i just had a little piece on my rock and then after awhile my tank was infested with it. I have the feather macro, i probably wont ever be able to get rid it without boiling or destroying my liverock.
What i do is usually just throw it into the garbage can after freezing it or just give it to my friend so his tangs can eat it all up.
if you do have it. i would becareful about where you dispose of it.
i think not all macro is actually illegal, only the feather type. But im just assuming

 

[noobie]

Eh?!?!
This is the craziest thing I've read about thus far on this forum! Here I am looking ALL over town for just a small piece of the stuff and now I come to find out that people are banning in it in Cali there is so much! Sheesh I gotta move out of Nebraska!!

 

[elan]

From the link... so is this stuff toxic???
Meinesz, a professor of biology at France's University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis on the Mediterranean coast, identified the alga as a strain of Caulerpa taxifolia, a green alga native to the tropics. But this strain seems otherworldly compared with its tropical cousins. Not only does it thrive at a water temperature that should kill it, but it also produces a powerful toxin that makes it deadly to fish and invertebrates (though not to humans).

 

[krishj39]

It appears it is illegal in California, but, from what I've heard, it is illegal to import it from another country, but it is fine to sell/aquire caulerpa that was grown domestically. But, that's on a national level, Ca could very well have its own laws as well.

 

[fshhub]

the stuff gets out of control, that type anyway. I remember reading about it before. like mentioned, it basically starves out other life forms(thus harming our ecosystem), is why it is banned. BUT, there are other types you can aquire in CALI, this I am pretty sure of

 

[eeldarb21]

I guess it's pretty bad here.. come to find out the lagoon they found it in is right down the street from me in carlsbad! San diego county has banned it from being sold on the street and transported and imported... you name it it's illegal here! pretty stupid huh? I will be setting up my fuge tomorrow with caulepra... i don't care if it is...LOL I beleive this all started from someone lazy dumping their saltwater tank down a storm drain..

 

[noobie]

So does this stuff just thrive in ANY water conditions? Whether it be saltwater or freshwater.

 

[krishj39]

I'm sure it can live in brackish (half salt, half fresh--found at river mouths) but not in freshwater.

 

[sea goblin]

So california wants to legalize pot, and make calurpa illegal? lol, if its bad for animals they gotta put an end to it but when its human health, who really cares right?
this is a funny planet we live on.
Sea Goblin

 

[noobie]

Maybe we should start smoking Caulerpa then they'll want to legalize it!

 

[entice59]

hahaha, funny how this turned into a discusion about "weed". If CA taxes marijuwana(misspell), we would be freaking rich. Then we wouldnt have to give teachers pinkslips and cutbacks on education in CA. Not only that, if we legalize druges, drug dealers would be done with and the US would be rich from the taxes they collect.
I know 2 places that sell macro. I dont know if they are illegal or not. But Nippon gold fish and 6th ave aquarium sometimes has some. 10 dollars a handful and 5 dollars for half. Are they illegal, they dont sell feather... so i guess not. I suggest you go to nippon rather then 6th ave. 6th ave sucks, Theres an ich outbreak in both their tanks. so beware if you decide to put anything into your tank. Despite the low prices and bag lots, you should never get anything from there.