[Alchamex]

I'm from Long Island and went to the beach this past weeked (Robert Moses beach for those on LI) and found some nice bunches of red fern (Tang Heaven) and some other green calerupa (the filmy kind, can't remember the name) washed up by the shore. I kept some in a bucket and brought it home for my tangs. I'm still undecided as to whether or not I should feed them to my tangs as the water around Long Island isn't the cleanest it could be.

I washed the stuff pretty well under tap water and its in my q-tank for now (no copper is in the water atm). The stuff was very slimy even after rinsing it under tap water...but it looks like a very healty specimen - has a nice color to it and many stalks. Would it be ok to feed it to my tangs after I leave it in my q-tank (with no copper in water atm) with proper filtration for a week to allow the calerupa to absorb my tanks water and dispose of any chemicals it may have absorbed from the green ocean water?

Thanks...

[Mobious]

Well you have to think.. What ever is in the water at your beach is in the plant.. No matter how much you wash it.. However.. You could grow it for a few months. Before feed it to your fish, harvest the starting colony and toss it away... And feed what has grown in your tank..

Make sence?

[Bughead]

My former mother-in-law had the most beautiful, fat, red tomatoes growing in the leaching field of the septic tank. I could never bring myself to eat any of these beauties, but none of the other family members seemed to suffer any ill effects.

My feeling is that it's probably safe to feed your fishies the caulerpa. But then again, I'd still feel some trepidation. But since you washed it well.....

I like Mo's idea of growing some clean caulerpa from the ocean stuff.

[Green Mariner]

It is OK to feed this to your fish!
Tang Heaven found in my backyard!

HTH

[Alchamex]

cool, thanks for the info. I will give just a small sample to my tangs after it sits in my q-tank for a few days (just incase) and see how things go.