cheato or grape calurpa (1 Viewer)

[panther009]

which is a better option for a refugium? cheato or grape calurpa. pros / cons. any advice appreciated.

 

[cliner]

I believe both are good options for excess nutrient intake. Chaeto is used more commonly. Caulerpa is known for going sexual (search it the ww 'caulerpa going sexual') if not under 24 hour lighting, there users of both in our group. I've only fed Caulerpa to my omnivorus fish, I do grow chaeto in my sump and it grows pretty easy with a little light. It also has to be pruned periodically so you can give it away to others.

 

[Llama]

I have both in my fuge and I personally like the chaeto better. I wouldn't mind having both if I didn't have to prune back the caulerpa every week or so. The stuff grows like mad! It takes over any LR you may have, takes over any wall it touches, and has grown all over the baffle before the return section. HOWEVER, this growth seems to get more pods into the return area which gets them into my display. So I allow it.

Bottom line, if you don't mind your fuge light being on 24/7 and you don't mind having to prune then go for it! Proceed with caution though because once it's in, it's hard to get out.

 

[Ulric]

Not sure why, but I have never been able to get Chaeto to grow... just one of those things. So I have feather calupera and a red Macro that both do well there.

 

[majikmike9999]

I just added cheato to the overflow of my return, I was running the lights 24/7 but started getting a bunch of algae growth any ideas what the optimum light cycle would be in this situation?

 

[Llama]

If you only have chaeto I'd say that you couldn't go wrong with running the fuge light opposite you main display lights.

 

[majikmike9999]

that was kind of my idea but I still haven't really established a DT light schedule, I need to invest in some timers.

 

[snookfish]

I have had both, as long as you leave the lights on 24/7 the caulp wont go sexual for the most part. If you do use it, when it goes sexual it will start turning white/translucent, prune it back as soon as you notice that. and for chaeto, be sure to use an iron supplement, mine use to melt away but once i used the iron it has been growing strong an seems to double in size about every 3 weeks