Harvesting Caulerpa

[i<3reefs]

I grew tons of grape caulerpa in the past, but never received any advice on culling it out of my refuge. I'm debating on running it again in a separate 10g refuge, in a sand bed so the roots are removed easier. When it is time to harvest the Caulerpa how delicate is it to separating/breaking? I would like to take it to lfs as healthy as possible.
thanks

 

[spanko]

Doesn't matter, Caulerpa has the ability to grow from any little pc. that breaks off. The smallest pc. left on a rock will soon become an entire new plant. Pc. that you harves will send out I think they are called rhizomes that will attach to just about anything, allowing the plant to root anywhere.

 

[pezenfuego]

Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3035349
Doesn't matter, Caulerpa has the ability to grow from any little pc. that breaks off. The smallest pc. left on a rock will soon become an entire new plant. Pc. that you harves will send out I think they are called rhizomes that will attach to just about anything, allowing the plant to root anywhere.
Absolutely false. Caulerpa is an algae, not a plant. You were right about the rhizomes though. Rhizomes are the reason we mistook caulerpa for a plant all those years. You were also right in that the smallest piece can become very large given time.

 

[spanko]

Whether algae are considered "plants" is really just a matter of where you draw your lines, and where you stick the labels. It's just semantics. Botanists agree that all green land plants (flowering plants, gymnosperms, ferns & fern allies, & bryophytes) had a common ancestor, and that that common ancestor was some kind of green algae. In other words, land plants are really just algae that learned to live on land. But botanists disagree on whether we should reserve the term "plant" for only the things that came onto land to live, or include their aquatic ancestors in the group.

 

[pezenfuego]

Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3035417
Whether algae are considered "plants" is really just a matter of where you draw your lines, and where you stick the labels. It's just semantics. Botanists agree that all green land plants (flowering plants, gymnosperms, ferns & fern allies, & bryophytes) had a common ancestor, and that that common ancestor was some kind of green algae. In other words, land plants are really just algae that learned to live on land. But botanists disagree on whether we should reserve the term "plant" for only the things that came onto land to live, or include their aquatic ancestors in the group.
Algae is classified as a protist as of right now. Saying that you are absolutely incorrect was taking things a tad far though.

 

[spanko]

Hee Hee, that was fun. Good stuff Pez!

 

[cranberry]

Massive pruning can cause the whole colony to crash. Remove whole individual strands instead of just pulling out sections or breaking fronds.