Propagating halimeda

[bleedingthought]

I wanted to bring some "prunings" of my halimeda to the frag swap at my fish club and was wondering how I can prune it so it'll be ok to go in another tank. I've never pruned it before since it hasn't gotten huge yet, so I'm not sure if the prunings, if just cut out at the "notches," will root up and grow. Can anyone help me out? And also, I've read about people just supergluing halimeda to rocks like you would a frag and it'll grow from there. Is that what I should instruct people to do if I'm able to "frag" my hali? (I got it on a small rock covered in roots...)

Thanks in advance!

 

[bleedingthought]

So, after a month, no one?

 

[Anonymous]

Just rip it out, nothing special about care with any macro's really, as far as harvesting. You can cut it, rip it, tear it, at any point. In fact, you should do this often, to make sure it doesn't go asexual on yah

 

[bleedingthought]

Thanks, Gresh!

What exactly is the calcium demand of halimeda? Is it worth the bright green that it adds to the display or more calcium that my hard corals could be using? It's not really that big, maybe a couple of 2" sprouts.

 

[Anonymous]

Many reefers prefer not to use it as they find it can become quite a calcium sink hole. I'm not sure of any numbers though.


It really depends on how deep into stonies you want to get. I ripped all mine out years ago to help keep more calcium available. Honestly, I didn't notice much difference in my calcium levels after I yanked it out For me, it was a question of having to keep pruning it and the possiability of it going to spore on me.

 

[luisgo]

I have a lot of helimeda in my reef. I love how it looks, its great at removing nutrients and yes calcium too. I use Kalkwasser for water top off and reef builder to maintain alk.

I have to remove part of it every two months. Very simple to reproduce just grab a bunch and put it over a rock, it will attach in days.


By luisgon

 

[Mthompson]

I imagine it would attach to the rock in no time. I got a bunch of dead helimeda on some live rock a couple weeks back. I never plucked it off, thinking maybe it would rejuvenate. The dead parts stayed dead and I removed them, but it did sprout up a bunch of new shoots. I now have about 15 plants that have grown about 1" in a week! The same thing is happening (just slower) with some Caulerpa taxifolia, I think (the fronds are only about 1/2" now....