Is this good macroalgae for refugium?

[ToddTT]

This is what my LFS had, and said it would be good for a refugium.

I was buying a bunch of other stuff and somehow forgot to ask what it was called.

Anybody know what it is, and if it is worthy of putting in a refugium?



By the way, that is not my refugium. Although I wish it were that easy.

[ricksreef]

grape algae a.k.a. Caulerpa racemosa.

it's fine for the refugium but is one of the more invasive species if it gets into your display.

[tbalankura]

I read somewhere that these CAULERPA can be pretty bad when they go sexual and also that they have some poison in them.

For the past month i had a big bush of them in my refu and I fed it to my tangs (purple, yellow, powderblue, salifin and sohal) and they love it. The answer i could not find anywhere is ... am I reintroducing the nitrates and phosphate back into the tank? Doesn't the CAULERPA change these elements to some other form as they grow?

[leebca]

The sexual transition is not an issue with the 'grape' algae. It does fine in a refugium, but why do you want macro algae in your refugium?

Most people want it to export nitrates. If that is your goal, there are a few other algae much better at this, than this one. If you want it just for looks and 'fun' -- go for it.

[ToddTT]

The sexual transition is not an issue with the 'grape' algae. It does fine in a refugium, but why do you want macro algae in your refugium?

Most people want it to export nitrates. If that is your goal, there are a few other algae much better at this, than this one. If you want it just for looks and 'fun' -- go for it.

Yep, for nitrates. What are the best non-invasive species?

And maybe I already have the species I need? This appeared seemingly out of nowhere, when I let my water quality decline last year:



Is it halimeda? I left it in place assuming it was doing some good. Maybe I just need to clip some from the display tank, and grow more?

[gregony]

Picture's kinda fuzzy but it looks like halimeda. It doesn't live too terribly long, and will turn white when it dies if its halimeda. It's really easy to remove if you don't like it. The entire clump comes out when you remove it, which makes it way easier to remove than caulerpa.
It's lousy for nutrient export and gobbles up calcium, but I like mine because its attractive.

[ToddTT]

Picture's kinda fuzzy but it looks like halimeda. It doesn't live too terribly long, and will turn white when it dies if its halimeda. It's really easy to remove if you don't like it. The entire clump comes out when you remove it, which makes it way easier to remove than caulerpa.
It's lousy for nutrient export and gobbles up calcium, but I like mine because its attractive.

At first I didn't like it, but it kinda grew on me, and my fish.

My blenny likes to pluck it, my sleeper goby like to forage in it, and my clowns seem to think it's a green leafy anemone.

Do you know if it has much nutritional value for my blenny?

[leebca]

Probably nothing better/faster growing than Chaetomorpha (a.k.a. chaeto). It grows fast, has a huge surface area, and removes nitrates most efficiently (IMHO). It can and does spread, but it can be physically stopped from entering the main display by filtration and/or the use of UV.