The Puffer Forum

Thanks

Yeah, this being a bedroom (/living room/study ), I've nowhere to put a decent refugium. THe stand is already choc-full with sump/skimmer, top-off reservoir and ballasts/timers/controllers. I actually had to unscrew the stand to fit everything in!

But if I had the space, I would definitely add a refugium. It would really add to the diversity of life.

When I first got the red "floaty" gracillaria, I tried it in a few places, assuming it would "stick"... but always came home to find it stuck around a pump intake or (dangerously) clogging up the overflow box. I tried wedging it in the crushed coral , but they don't form any holdfast structures, and the flow down there is very brisk -- they didn't stand much chance!

The feather caulerpa is sticking to the substrate. But I get the impression it could stick to anything - probably even my hand - if it wanted to!

Yup, Caulerpa is well-attached after a brief perid, plenty of holdfasts develop quickly.

This all makes you wonder just what the niche of that gracillaria is in the wild.

RTR wrote:
This all makes you wonder just what the niche of that gracillaria is in the wild.

A very good point.... sea currents must be far too strong for it to "tangle" with things. It likes light so it should have some way of staying near the surface. Maybe more time will tell. I have to prune the bunches every week, or the completely obscure the rock!

I have just opened up the connection from this tank to a new 12 gallon "nano-reef". The live rock in the nano reef has cycled, and all parameters are good (0,0,0 -- although nitrate readings don't mean much with so much macroalgae), but I'm getting the usual "new tank diatoms" in the small tank. The puffer tank is holding up reasonably well to the change, but I'm beginning to see diatoms settle on the macro.... and Majano anemones sprouting on the rock crests . I think I'm going to have to change my religion to the gravel vac.

I'll post pics of the whole system as soon as the main feature isn't "brown"!