Fuge Question

[Mr_Cool]

Can I have too much macro algae in my fuge?

I have some razor caulerpa, grape caulerpa, feather caulerpa (I think) and some chaeto in there. The fuge itself is half of a 75 gallon tank with about 4 inches of sand and some live rock rubble. It seems like it has suddenly taken over the space.

Should I thin it a bit and let it grow out again? I know that other members do this all the time. I'd be happy to share if anyone needs some. Just wondering if I really NEED to thin it. I have room on the other side of the divider where I could move some. I just don't know if it needs space to grow and therefore take up the extra nutrients or what.

[Bill S]

Yup, thin it out. What you don't want is for your macro to go asexual, and then die off/bleach out. You are growing it to export it - so either export it to someone, or export it to the trash!

[Hanali]

I could use some where are you?

[Fish4life]

yeah, what bstreep said. be very careful with the caulerpa as they are a ticking time bomb in your tank. if the go asexual say goodbye to your tank.

[Mr_Cool]

I'll be thinning it out then. I'm on the Northwest side of San Antonio (near Sea World) if anyone wants some. Since I teach school, I'll be off for the next two weeks :bigsmile:!

Shoot me a PM if you need/want some and I'll give you directions to my place.

By the way, how much should I thin it? I'll post a pic tonight so that you can see how "full" it is. I'm guessing I should take about half out of there, but someone please let me know after I post a pic.

[120gallons]

You want to thin it out so that it keeps growing and using up the nutrients...

[blueboy]

i'd take out about half. it'll regrow fast enough. and for the record, IME the whole caulerpa going asexual thing is a little overplayed. it happened to me once(because i didn't thin often enough), but i saw it in the morning, put a canister with fresh carbon on the tank, and started running the RO for a 1/4 waterchange, did the WC in the afternoon. that evening we had a party. noone even suspected that anything had been wrong. water was clear, NO losses. and this was in a crowded mixed reef. so, you do hear stories of disasters, but i think it's a bit overblown. that is to say, don't go and spend the holidays picking all the caulerpa out of your chaeto with tweezers or anything.

[Mr_Cool]

I keep a light on it 24/7. I thought that was supposed to keep it from "going sexual."

[Mr_Cool]

I'm going to thin it out later today. (I won't post pics, then.) I'll hold onto whatever I don't want/need for a little while. Anyone who wants some, shoot me a PM.

BA: I got your PM. I'll save you some for sure and PM you to work out a pick-up.