Caulerpa Patrol....

[Reefman19]

OK, a new one...
Has anyone experienced a very prolific growth of the Caulerpa that grows the grapelike clusters (Caulerpa Rasmosa - I think??)? If so, has anyone encountered any fish that will graze on it enough to control it or get completely rid of it??

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Greg

[Doh]

I wish, Caulerpa doesn't even get change to start to grow in my tank[img]/ubb/frown.gif[/img], the tang and snails soon see to that.

If I had prolific growth of the stuff I would just harvest it every so often - an excellent way of exporting nutrients [img]/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

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"Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals. Except the weasel." - Homer Simpson

[Reefman19]

I agree, I'm just getting tired of harvesting it and would like to see something get some good of it. I do get credit at my local shop for bringing it in though, so it's not a total loss.

I've heard a large Sailfin (Desjardini) should put a dent in my problem, but the only large one at my local shop is Display Only...



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Greg

[AquaNut]

My cualerpa grows undisturbed in my tank. I have grape and fern cualerpa, and a real healthy sargassum. I keep it for filtration, not as a food source. I can only reply with what others have told me when I posted a similar topic. It seems tangs (not all though) will eat the stuff.

But I no longer complain about the growth rate of these "plants"...I actually have been able to make a few buck in eBay with it. I offered the stuff for free initially, and actually still have a list of about 7 people I promised my prunings to, but the other half I sell.


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NUT!
I ADMIT IT!!!
I'm an aqua-nut
...whom soever is not one in this BB shall cast the first stone.

Alex's Ocean Realm
GO FOR A DIVE!!!
http://home.earthlink.net/~amariquit/thereef

[REAL BIG FISH]

I have not been able to find a fish I just have to rip it out. The stuff grows like the kudzu that grows around here. I have tried the Sailfin he did'nt eat it.

Jamey[img]/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]

[saltjunkie]

my tang and triggers eat the stuff up quick!!!!

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Whoever invented salt water aquariums should be shot for taking all my money...everyday, oh well gotta have something to do!

[REAL BIG FISH]

What type of tang are we talking about?

Jamey[img]/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]

[the_blue_tuna]

Something to keep in the back of your mind.......If you grow it primarily for filtration, then feeding it back to the fish puts all the filtered biproduct back into the water.

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In this hobby patience is not a virtue,,,,,its mandatory.

[saltjunkie]

my tang is a regular yellow tang

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Whoever invented salt water aquariums should be shot for taking all my money...everyday, oh well gotta have something to do!

[REAL BIG FISH]

Hey salt,
Are we talking about grape caulerpa, because my yellow will not tough the stuff?

Jamey[img]/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]

[AquaNut]

I guess fish can be as finicky as humans. There are some that say their tangs love the stuff...others that say they eat it when there's nothing else to eat, while some say their tangs won't touch the stuff.

Life is never an absolute...[img]/ubb/smile.gif[/img]


------------------
NUT!
I ADMIT IT!!!
I'm an aqua-nut
...whom soever is not one in this BB shall cast the first stone.

Alex's Ocean Realm
GO FOR A DIVE!!!
http://home.earthlink.net/~amariquit/thereef

[rmoro]

I have a yellow tang, purple tang, Powder blue tang, and a Kole tang in my 125 reef tank and all three love my grape caulerpa! They nibble at it all the time and pull chunks off to play with until they gobble it up. My Jewel Damsel will even have a bite every now and then.

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Rocco

[saltjunkie]

yep, every now and then i buy dfferent types of macro to feed him and yes he does eat it all whatever i put in there him along with my triggers eat it up yum!!! [img]/ubb/smokin.gif[/img]

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Whoever invented salt water aquariums should be shot for taking all my money...everyday, oh well gotta have something to do!

[Reefman19]

Yeah,
Fish can be finicky....I am thinking of trying a "school" of Yellow tangs and see if they can help me keep it in check.

Has anyone heard of the one or twelve rule as applied to Yellow tangs? I was told to buy one or twelve because of the instinctive hierarchy of the Yellow tang. Any number in between will result in territoriality and fighting amongst the fewer than twelve school.

Just thought I'd ask.

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Greg

[Doh]

rmoro what order did you add your tangs? How bigs your tank? I've got a yellow and am thinking of adding a Purple, any problems?

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"Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals. Except the weasel." - Homer Simpson

[Reefman19]

Doh,
I know different cases may vary with different fishes and some things must be taken on an individual basis.....I mixed a Red Sea Purple and a Hawaiian Yellow in my 100g and spent the next almost 4 hours moving stuff and rearranging and dirtying up the water to remove the yellow....the ones I had definitely did NOT "click"...

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Greg

[saltjunkie]

i have never heard of the 1 or 12, i have heard that if you want more than 1 it has to also be more than 2,say like 3what kinda giant pool would one have to have to successfully house 12 yellow tangs? that really seems like alot to me but then again i could be wrong! [img]/ubb/smokin.gif[/img]

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Whoever invented salt water aquariums should be shot for taking all my money...everyday, oh well gotta have something to do!

[Reefman19]

Yeah,
I cannot see a dozen Yellows in my system either. The only "rule" I have heard of on shcools of fishes is to get odd numbers of
3,5,7, etc...

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Greg

[Joaco]

Caulerpa racemosa, grape caulerpa.

http://www.globaldialog.com/~jrice/a...pecaulerpa.htm

Odd numbers? why, fish can't count, or can they? [img]/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]
For low numbers I might agree, since by having 2 one will be dominant, but if having 3 two could gang up on the 3rd weaker one, same for other odd numbers (or any number, lol)

Yellow tangs for sale at my LFS:



They sell that fast that they dont have time to set their territories, try this for a longer period of time and you will face trouble...unless you have a huge tank.

The rule I heard is 1 or at least 6...but never tried it.


Joaco


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Joaco's saltwater webpage Updated 12th June 2000


[This message has been edited by Joaco (edited 06-23-2000).]

[Doh]

This is what i heard too, 1 or 6. Usless you've got a huge tank 300g+ and you might get away with a couple.

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"Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals. Except the weasel." - Homer Simpson