Chaeto or Kalurpa

[TD13]

Still trying to figure out what all I want to do on the new build. Which is better at exporting nutrients?

 

[twilliard]

Honestly each macro has its own needs in some way.
I have 11 different species as they all contribute in different ways

 

[Lenny_S]

I use 3 varieties and seems to do the trick in my 160 gallon tank. Chaeto because it is a hardy beast, red Gracilaria for diversity, and Ulva because I can also feed it to herbivores/omnivores like Tangs.

 

[MOPAR]

I would do cheato. It's easy to control and won't go sexual on you like Caulerpa can. What i mean by going sexual is Caulerpa may try to reproduce sexually.

 

[AmatuerAuer]

I agree with Mopar, go with Cheato only, at least at first. I'll admit to not being the expert but my understanding is Caulerpa can "go sexual" or asexual (I forget) causing a headache.

I have cheato in my sump under a shop light running a light similar to an outdoor spot light, nothing fancy. A Hydor pump spins the cheato to keep it growing evenly, I find that when it doesn't move it has a tendency to grow algae on the cheato itself. There are probably other benefits to other species (hopefully someone will give you facts) but for my money cheato is the winner by far. I honestly pull out baseball size clumps monthly to toss away. Good indication of the amount of nutrients it is sucking up to grow.

 

[maroun.c]

Your safest bet would be cheato simply for the Going sexual aspect... I have 4 types of Caulerpa in addition to Cheato in my fuge and they all grow fine and fill up the fuge in a month time. I prune regularly and haven't had any issues with Caulerpa.

 

[fragit]

Your safest bet would be cheato simply for the Going sexual aspect... I have 4 types of Caulerpa in addition to Cheato in my fuge and they all grow fine and fill up the fuge in a month time. I prune regularly and haven't had any issues with Caulerpa.

Don't have a system up right now, but in my last tank I had feather Culerpa which did great, never went sexual, I had it running on an opposite lighting schedule which helps. The pods loved it, I was constantly harvesting, it looks much nicer IMO than cheato. Best bet though is to have a variety we are trying to mimic nature in our little systems....

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

IMO, Caulerpa racemosa is clearly better at nutrient reduction than chaetomorpha since when both are in a system (like mine), the caulerpa usually wins out, presumably by starving the chaeto.

That said, Caulerpa racemosa has its drawbacks that make it a poor choice, IMO.

I do not believe that the sexual reproduction/sporulation is any concern at all. I've had C. racemosa for almost 20 years, and never has the normal variant done that in my tank. The peltatta variant has, and there was no problem whatsoever. Just food for filter feeders, IMO.

The BIG problem is that it can get established in the main tank and will overrun everything. The only way I could beat it was to get a foxface (a fish) that happily eats it, and then later I actually added Caulerpa racemosa to the display weekly to feed it. But without that fish, and even with yellow and hippo tangs, the caulerpa easily takes control. Even breaking down the tank and scrubbing every rock manually did not suffice to rid the tank.

 

[Wiz]

I prefer a variety. Just for looks. Here they are in order from slowest grower to fastest. (I assume that translates to export)
Mangrove
Mermaid fan
Red fern
Chaeto
Cotton candy
Red titan
Grape caulerpa
Red grape tree
Sawblade caulerpa

I'm assuming the stuff growing on the pump is red titan as well even though its kind of purplish on top.

The last two are the clear winners in my system

 

[Wiz]

Also, my red grape, and both caulerpas will start to turn clear occasionally. This is when I add my capful of iron. Within days the colors darken nicely. Don't know if its coincidence bu t it seems to help.

 

[scardall]

Neither are needed. Use carbon and GFO reactors. If nutrient export is the Only goal.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Neither are needed. Use carbon and GFO reactors. If nutrient export is the Only goal.

Do you mean biopellets, or granular activated carbon when you say carbon?

If the latter, where does the nitrate go in that setup?

 

[scardall]

Do you mean biopellets, or granular activated carbon when you say carbon?

If the latter, where does the nitrate go in that setup?

Granular carbon in a bag inside reactor BRS carbon. and Gfo (ROAW) I do dose NO3/Po4 -X by red sea for nitrates too. Nature does the rest. my nitrates stay <5ppm and my Phosphates is never higher that .14ppm or lower than .06ppm Oh yah, occasional water changes too.

 

[NeuroticAquatics]

Chaeto is free and fairly easy to maintain. Keeps my Nitrates/Phosphates very low. You might even be able to sell it eventually. I found an LFS that will buy all I can bring in, so I've made $100+ over the last few months. I'm kicking myself for not asking sooner, as I have tossed buckets of it in the past. GFO and carbon did not do any better for me.

 

[scardall]

Chaeto is free and fairly easy to maintain. Keeps my Nitrates/Phosphates very low. You might even be able to sell it eventually. I found an LFS that will buy all I can bring in, so I've made $100+ over the last few months. I'm kicking myself for not asking sooner, as I have tossed buckets of it in the past. GFO and carbon did not do any better for me.

Chateto is always in demand within the club I belong too. BARS

 

[TD13]

Chaeto sounds like the winner. Thanks @Randy Holmes-Farley for the contingency plan should I get over run! Fox Face are neat fish anyhow, win/win.

 

[Justiful]

I use grape. It cost me an extra 1 hour per week in tank maintenance, and that is not an exageration. It exports better than my fern calpura and my much slower growing chaeto... Though to be fair it is probably just out competing both of them for nutrients. They may do as good if they where the only one used in the system.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Granular carbon in a bag inside reactor BRS carbon. and Gfo (ROAW) I do dose NO3/Po4 -X by red sea for nitrates too. Nature does the rest. my nitrates stay <5ppm and my Phosphates is never higher that .14ppm or lower than .06ppm Oh yah, occasional water changes too.

Ah, OK. Yes, organic carbon dosing, like the NOPOX, is a good way to reduce nitrate. That's what I was trying to find out when you didn't mention any nitrogen export method.

 

[scardall]

@Randy Holmes-Farley I Always appreciate your opinions, comments and Inputs here. My biggest struggle with this hobby is doing water changes. Whaaa.

Merry X-Mas to you and the Family

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

@Randy Holmes-Farley I Always appreciate your opinions, comments and Inputs here. My biggest struggle with this hobby is doing water changes. Whaaa.

Merry X-Mas to you and the Family

Thanks and Meerry Christmas to you too.

I just finished roasting chestnuts for stuffing.