Caulerpa or Chaetomorpha for Refugium?

[KingFish]

During my research into setting up my refugium, I have found the following:

Every time during cropping of Caulerpa (macroalgae), fluids containing caulerpin and the 30+ other metabolites it produces are released.

I hear that caulerpa also goes sexual monthly and releases all it stored nutrients right back into the system. (???)

Chaetomorpha Sp., aka Spaghetti or Brillo Pad algae, is much easier to deal with than Caulerpa due to the fact it doesn't attached to anything in your tank making it a breeze to remove for nutrient exportation.

Can we even find Chaetomorpha here?

[Achilles Tang]

I have been hunting for chaetomorpha for a long long time.

They don't sell it.

It comes as hitchhikers on my macroalgae ie. attached to red macroalgae.

But I don't see them growing fast enough.

Talking about macroalgae... my refugium is a mess now. Some of my macros have collapsed. I don't know whether it's because in my efforts to combat my current hair algae/cyano problem, I stopped dosing iron supplements.

I made the mistake of not removing the collapsing macroalgae and that may have been responsible for fueling further nuisance microalgae growth.

[bawater]

so rumour, have u done any research on sea lettuce? avail all around our beaches?- there are also some other kinds.Its green,its edible & its free-just wash them properly.

The only thing i know so far is that tangs will eat them(& very fast).faster than i can say"STOP FISH, i want to use that as nutrient export" & its gone. Recycled to poo which the cleaner shrimp eats & recycles it somemore. So now i have to wait for my refugium!

[CKS]

>I hear that caulerpa also goes sexual monthly and releases all it stored

> nutrients right back into the system. (???)

yea .. u can reduce that possibility by providing 24/7 lighting period

[BarraCudaTM]

I have been hunting for chaetomorpha for a long long time.

you got a picture to show?

if so .. I maybe able to retrieve the algae from the buoy

[BlueTerror]

so rumour, have u done any research on sea lettuce? avail all around our beaches?- there are also some other kinds.Its green,its edible & its free-just wash them properly.

The only thing i know so far is that tangs will eat them(& very fast).faster than i can say"STOP FISH, i want to use that as nutrient export" & its gone. Recycled to poo which the cleaner shrimp eats & recycles it somemore. So now i have to wait for my refugium!

imagine this can grow n eat ur own sea lettuce.

[KingFish]

There is quite a number of variation (linum, spirallis, aerea..etc)

Attached are some pictures for your identification.

One thing though, Chek Jawa has Chaetomorpha crassa...

If you get lucky, do share the bounty....

[KingFish]

Here's another

[CKS]

Beach?? which one??

ive seen sea lettuce and the red algae ipsf.com sold as "Tang Heaven" in T95 quite offen.. didnt have luck with the latter one

its alot cheaper than what u've to pay in the state tho.

[KingFish]

so rumour, have u done any research on sea lettuce? avail all around our beaches?- there are also some other kinds.Its green,its edible & its free-just wash them properly.

The only thing i know so far is that tangs will eat them(& very fast).faster than i can say"STOP FISH, i want to use that as nutrient export" & its gone. Recycled to poo which the cleaner shrimp eats & recycles it somemore. So now i have to wait for my refugium!

I have not looked into sea lettuce yet, but according to CKS, looks like its definately serve as a Tang banquet.

If someone can scrounge up some Chaetomorpha, I can try to grow them in my refugium, which is still barren, waiting to be colonised

[CKS]

Tang heaven USD19.95

Same Algae from T95 SGD$8

The way your tang chomp down the algae ... priceless

[KingFish]

That was a good one ....

[Tanzy]

For everything else, there's Mastercard.

[CKS]

er.. T95 only accept cash tho (i think)

heh

seriously.. does anyone have success growing Gracilaria (Tang Heaven) or sea lettuce?

And anyone heard of sea lettuce been used for pods farming? (dont rem where i heard that from)

[hongqixian]

Ulva algae (looks like ribbons- common on beaches and Pulau ubin) is used for pod culture by some company.

[CKS]

Thanks for the info

It wouldnt hurt to havest some would it?

since its common

[KingFish]

Ulva algae (looks like ribbons- common on beaches and Pulau ubin) is used for pod culture by some company.

Pod culture eh? Not a bad idea do have intention to keep Mandarins and they tend to decimate pods population.

Any luck in finding Chaetomorpha BarraCuda™?

Count me in on any harvest... Thanks

[BarraCudaTM]

didnt go fishing lately

will keep my eyes open for such algae in my next fishing trip

[eprouve]

Here's one of the spirallis...

[KingFish]

Till I find a way get some Chaetomorpha by going to you-know-where, I bought some Caulerpa for nutrient export ( I'll remove the Caulerpa later and use them as LR... like what the LFS are doing )

Anyway, I realised that with the lights on in the refugium, the photosynthetic process produces a lot of microbubbles which is kinda cool, but manage to find its way into the main tank on occassions.

I doubt there's a way to reduce the microbubble-ing, but is there a way to reduce the amount of it getting into the main tank?

Its hard to build a baffle in the sump now.

[Tanzy]

How does the water get into the return pump from the macroalgae refugium?

You could use an elbow before the pump inlet so it only draws water from below, hopefully reducing bubbles. Alternatively, direct your return outlet at the surface of your tank so the bubbles rise and dissipate faster.

[KingFish]

How does the water get into the return pump from the macroalgae refugium?

You could use an elbow before the pump inlet so it only draws water from below, hopefully reducing bubbles. Alternatively, direct your return outlet at the surface of your tank so the bubbles rise and dissipate faster.

Tried to direct the return flow nearer to surface which resulted in larger bubbles, so its now slightly below the water line.

My pump sits on the sand bed in the refugium, I'll try to fence it up in a chamber over the weekend and create an overflow (like the main tank). Hopefully it'll lessen the microbubbles

Thanks man.

[Tanzy]

If the overflow is too small or near the pump, the cascading water will draw in air which the pump will suck in. This will create even more bubbles. What I meant by directing the flow at the surface was that the return line goes underwater then points back upwards towards the surface. Sending water towards the surface from below, allowing the bubbles to dissipate.