Soooo it happened to me last night...my caulerpas went sexual in my sump(now soup)

[reefcowboy]

Hey Fellas....
After reading (and ignoring) the "going sexual" of the caulerpas, I kept some in my sump...I ran my sump lights 12 hours/day for about 2 months and until then everything was perfect...
Last night I was excited because I had purchased a set of Current Pro LED Lights(actinic Blue) because i wanted to see what effect I would get on my 20 gal reef... I loved the lights...what a cool set of led's...
So getting to the story, my timers turn off the lights and i go to bed. Next morning comes up, I pass by my tank and I can't see anything in there!!! It was all white, like I had poured milk in it...
the water also had an odor of foul, dirty rotten sewer water.
On top of the sump water, I saw "strings" of "hair-looking" substances, that were sticking to almost everything, walls, pumps, powerheads...I was sooo pissed and upset that had happened to me.
Of course I knew running 24/7 lights in the sump would reduce the going sexual possibility, but I thought the issue was more comon with the grape kind(I had caulerpa prolifera)....
So I had to do a 100% water change today and wasnt very happy. I now only have chaeto, and will not even want to hear about caulerpas again. YES THEY GO SEXUAL....and when it happens, you will pay the price for the risk...do not keep those in your tank.,.. its not worth the risk!

 

[joy13]

I have had the grape caulerpa go sexual but luckily I am always parked infront of my tank and when I saw it going white I took it out. How is your nitrates now?

 

[melosu58]

I`m very sorry for what happened but thanks for sharing. It will help to teach others.

 

[Purevil21]

I'm not familiar with this, I haven't kept any kind of natural nitrate reducer. What happens when they go sexual? Does it kill everything in your tank?

 

[reefcowboy]

I didn't check my nitrates after i saw in what mess the tank was...I actually would be interested to see to what extend the water parameters could be impacted, but I was in a hurry to change it, since I didnt want my fish or corals to be dying for some reason later on...
Strangely enough, the fish and corals were completely fine while"in the mess". The corals were open, the fish were looking for food, everything seemed very normal. I dont think they cared for whatever substance was in the water..Maybe because that is something natural in the wild? Of course, when you have a small closed system, the balance will not stay stable after all that organic matter that was floating..I just couldn't stand the bad smell of the water...SO BAD!
Sharing my experience, I would like to say the "going sexual" act of the caulerpas is a headache to the hobbyist on the fact that you would have to change at least 50-75% of the volume of H2O, but in the short term, the act is not deadly to any of the animals. I would NOT recommend that macro in a sump, for whatever reason that is, but death is not an issue if the reefer spots the problem within 24 hr of it happening...
Anyways, I removed the caulerpas, cleaned the sump, and main tank, and today all fish and coral are 100%.
So I dont thing my experience was as traumatic as many people would think..

 

[nxb161]

I have to ask, how often did you prune it? From my understanding there are two main reasons they go "sexual" 1) not enough pruning & 2) not enough nitrates to feed its growth.

 

[reefcowboy]

NXB161,

It could be true. I did not do much pruning because I had enough room in there still for the algae to grow lots...And when I attempted to prune, some branches would split and that white stuff would bleed in my water...So that could be a reason....
As far as nitrates, my range is always 0-5-10 ppm, and I try to feed properly, and all parameters are in check...Maybe not enough nitrates? But isnt that the purpose of them being in there to begin with? To lower nitrates?
How do you know how much is enough nitrates and how do you try to keep them in that level?.....
Just not worth it in my opinion...Chaeto does the same if not better being 100% safe...

 

[Gregcoyote]

Be careful when disposing of this stuff as it can make it into the environment and cause havoc. I would kill it before flushing it, or bury it in your solid waste bin.

 

[Gregcoyote]

I use algae turf scrubbing to strip nitrates from the water. What I harvest I either re-feed or throw away. But the algae I grow is all filimentatious green.

 

[nxb161]

I use macroalgae to feed my california sea hare