Macro Going Sexual or Another Problem?

[Planeden]

Hey Guys,

After several days of my macro looking well, I think it may be going sexual. I finally hung my lights Tuesday night, so they are now getting more light than they were. Then I left town for a couple of days and I come back to these. Only pods, snails, and one hermit live in the tank at the moment. At last check all levels were normal. I need to recheck them all today.

All of the red macro is as i left it.

The stem closest to the camera has nothing but filaments where there should be leaves. I honestly don't know if this is a brand new stem with forming leaves or if this used to be a leaf and it has gone to nothing.

This is the one that is more odd to me. You can see the white leaves at the back or the tank, but if you look closely towards the front (where the piece of red macro got trapped) you can see this stem is getting new growth.

i am not sure what bad things happen when it goes sexual, other than releasing stuff into the water. could the change of light have caused it?

I'm thinking i may ought to prune the bad leaves off and keep an eye on it?

thanks.

[+KimP]

When I had my lagoon the algae went sexual several times until I started feeding very heavy and often. This happened especially at the beginning. I think it was just an acclamation process. Don't worry about it going sexual. I've had it happen so bad that I could barely see in the tank. I just would bring my powerhead close to the surface for extra agitation. Neither the fish nor the coral ever acted like it was a problem. The water would soon clear itself up and go back to normal. These have been my experiences.

I'm sure subsea will pipe in on this. My take is that you don't have enough nutrients yet to keep as much macro as you added alive.

Oh and the clear/whitish leaves are it going sexual.

[Planeden]

thanks kim. i suppose it is that circle of life thing. not enough food so it destroys itself to make food for its offspring. of course, my supposition is based on really poor performances in both biology and chemistry.

off to but life forms that may add stuff to feed macro. going to ask to have my water professionally tested, too.

[subsea]

thanks kim. i suppose it is that circle of life thing. not enough food so it destroys itself to make food for its offspring. of course, my supposition is based on really poor performances in both biology and chemistry.

off to but life forms that may add stuff to feed macro. going to ask to have my water professionally tested, too.

Your suppossition is right on track. You have an intuitive grasp of the big picture. Patrick

[subsea]

When I had my lagoon the algae went sexual several times until I started feeding very heavy and often. This happened especially at the beginning. I think it was just an acclamation process. Don't worry about it going sexual. I've had it happen so bad that I could barely see in the tank. I just would bring my powerhead close to the surface for extra agitation. Neither the fish nor the coral ever acted like it was a problem. The water would soon clear itself up and go back to normal. These have been my experiences. I'm sure subsea will pipe in on this. My take is that you don't have enough nutrients yet to keep as much macro as you added alive. Oh and the clear/whitish leaves are it going sexual.

I am with Kim on milky white water being cleaned up within a day or two.

Let us talk more about first preliminary symptoms of macro going sexual. As a rule, with green macro algae, I have noted that white on tip end is a definite indicator that within 24-48 hours that macro will go sexual. In the case of Caulerpa Paspoides, the stems enlarged but loss strength in rigidity. Within the enlarged stem is a white sappy fluid, this fluid is DNA and nutrients. With high nutrient lagoon, I would add more activated carbon and increase circulation for increased oxygen demand by tank.

When growing fast, Caulerpa shows transparent to opaque on the tips. In these Mollie lagoon tanks, the mollies pick on growth that is decaying. They prune the macro for me. However, in conversation with Emily Clark, grazing sea turtles will always eat new growth after macro went sexual in grass beds near Bay of Campeche. Maybe she will pitch in.

Patrick

PS. First picture shows new growth under Reefkeeper 120W LED with 400 PAR. Second picture is under 200W of CFL at 6500 kelvin with 300 PAR. Third picture is combination of the two artificial light sources. Caulerpa Prolifera is growing fast under both light sources. The emerald green of C.Prolifera looks very good under both lights, IMO.

The dark burgundy of Gracilaria Hayi looks good under both lights. I would say that the blue iridescence was attractive on the dark burgundy.

[Planeden]

thanks kim. i suppose it is that circle of life thing. not enough food so it destroys itself to make food for its offspring. of course, my supposition is based on really poor performances in both biology and chemistry.

off to but life forms that may add stuff to feed macro. going to ask to have my water professionally tested, too.

Your suppossition is right on track. You have an intuitive grasp of the big picture. Patrick

thanks patrick. i will leave it unpruned.

parameters checked out at the store.