It Could Be Worse

One of my very first corals, a rock covered with yellow polyps and in my tank since almost day one--has become a rock covered with something else nowadays. I'm confident the yellow polyps are still somewhere intact, yet only a few made it to the surface.

Shortly after converting from FOWLR to reef, I noticed some macroalgae growth on this rock. In time it spread. Kingfish Matt's saying, "Go Slow, Let It Grow," is what happened here, like it or not.

Indeed it has grown slowly. I now know what invasive growth is all about. Once it takes hold, there's no abatement. I've removed this rock from my aquarium every 90 days or so, about 3 times now; to prune away with tweezers the copious growth of caulerpa racemosa that's taken hold. I've become tired with the process. I'm by no means lazy with tank maintenance, as I've even taken my sump with me into the shower for a cleaning--but with this pruning I'm done. I've decided to let the caulerpa grow.

Here are some shots of the yellow polyp over the time I've owned it. It's been with me from the beginning. It's survived through some bad times.

















Now here's the very same rock. The caulerpa surrounds it like a cancer. Although it's runners are thick enough, the rootlike hair structures with which this macro attaches itself to rocks is so fine, it's impossible to remove it completely. Even a microsurgeon couldn't guarantee the complete remission of this plant.

So I'm letting it grow, Matt--and everyone else. I've become expert at keeping it isolated. For if it were to touch another piece of LR in the tank, it might just be game over. I have it on the sand where it will stay. Every now and then I pluck away the bamboo like shoots by which it attempts to increase its domain.

A fine line between beauty and havoc.

I suppose it could be worse. My new Kole tang, who ignores clips of seaweed and algae strips for these past 3 weeks, has taken a liking to this rock, and nips at it constantly. Perhaps this surgeonfish will be the surgeon I need most.

Enjoy.

 

wow what a transformation. hopefully your yellows will pull through. if your sump was bigger. you could bathe in it instead. best of luck sparky

 

I'm not too worried about the polyps. The thing about putting it in the sump is that there's no light down there. It's just a sump, not a 'fuge. If the algae on that one piece of rock alone would die off, I'd be concerned there would be a large enough amount of phosphates liberated into the water to cause nuisance growth elsewhere.

Maybe one day I'll start another tiny tank devoted just to it. I've got an LFS near me that expressed some interest in buying this caulerpa racemosa. They tell me it's not easy to cultivate. I find it very strange that it's my only algal growth in a system of 100 gallons+. Why does it thrive where no other algae will?

Like the title says. It could be worse, right?

 

I hereby dub you "The Caulerpa King".
Sell it to the fish store or trade it for a nice frag and be done with it.

 

Why not just frag a few of the polyps off and nuke the rock completely afterward?

 

you could sell clumps of it to your lfs for 10 bucks each

 

hmmm just googled it and found this, thought it was interesting


Human uses: This seaweed is eaten in some places. In the Philippines, it is eaten fresh as a salad, or salted so it can be eaten later. Small quantities are also exported to Japan. It is also eaten in Malaysia and Indonesia. It is also reported to have antibacterial and antifungal properties, and to be used to treat high blood pressure and rheumatism. The seaweed is also fed to livestock and fish.

 

Don't know, Bogie--I've kinda taken a shine to this rock.

I've tried fragging one, Pack. Surprisingly after being unable to scrape one off the rock, I simply cut the stalk close to the rock; blotted the incision dry, and used superglue gel to adhere it to a separate rock. It worked! It was very labor intensive, and I think I might be just as apt to buy a small frag of yellow polyp and take it from there. I haven't decided yet.

I didn't know it had such value. Let me get it basketball sized first!

Maybe I'll just eat it instead? Seems there are a few seaweed sources we humans enjoy. Nori, as a wrapper for sushi; and carageenan (I think a kelp derivative) is used as a gum/thickener for salad dressings, yogurt and the like.

 

incredible story Reef sparky and great images



Steve

 

Wow...I thought you had photo-shopped that picture!!!! You would think that taking the time to prune it would have helped, but I betcha the more you trim things, the more they grow! Like human hair, or urchins eating coraline!!!

It's kinda cool lookin if it makes you feel any better! I was expecting a rock covered in fungus.