pictures of different macros

[icereefer]

Hi I was asked to start a thread of some macro pictures in my tank, please add any you have.
top: Chaetomorpha= (chaeto/brillo pad/spaghetti).
bottom: Caulerpa Racemosa= (grape).
right: caulerpa cupressoides (razor).

[MikeS]

pics are not showing up for me.....

Mike

[icereefer]

pics are not showing up for me.....

Mike
try it now mike, zack did some thing and it works for me now

[Zack]

I see them. Mike let me know if you don't anymore. Looks great icereefer!

[FishinInTheDark]

Good job, Icereefer! Nice, clear pic.

I like the cute little plate. Do you usually use it to keep your peas from mixing with your mashed potatoes? JK! :lol:

Conni

[nbaker]

Hi I was asked to start a thread of some macro pictures in my tank, please add any you have.
Thanks Icereefer, I'm tryin to figure out what its what so I can build one my self.

[icereefer]

here's another pic of some macro in my tank.
Top: caulerpa racemosa, macrodisca/tea cup. the tea cup has a flat bowl type leaf
bottom caulerpa=Brachypus.

[nbaker]

Good job, Icereefer! Nice, clear pic.

I like the cute little plate. Do you usually use it to keep your peas from mixing with your mashed potatoes? JK! :lol:

Conni i just finally read this :lol: :lol:

[albert]

Three unknown species from my refugium

http://hepatus.mine.nu/aquarium/pics/040722-015.jpg

http://hepatus.mine.nu/aquarium/pics/040722-017.jpg http://hepatus.mine.nu/aquarium/pics/040722-017-1.jpg

http://hepatus.mine.nu/aquarium/pics/040722-017-2.jpg

[nbaker]

the one's in the shape of a cocktail umbrella are cool... refering to the one in the bottom left corner of pic 2 and 4.

[Frick-n-Frags]

Very nice collection of Macros. I really like macros and have collected up a bunch myself. I'll put names on as many as I can for you.

pic one CCW from top

Chaetomorpha
Caulerpa racemosa
Caulerpa serrulata

pic 2 from top

Caulerpa peltata
Caulerpa prolifera

pic 3 from the top(those are going to stay somewhat unknown, but I can get close)

that is a red(even though it is pretty green colored) possibly Laurencia or Chondria
Acetabularia or the little one Polyphisa(mermaid's cups)
not sure about the last red. If those are little bubbles, most likely Botryocladia, but if they are flat, I don't know

[Frick-n-Frags]

here is a few of the more interesting of the 20+ algaes I have found in my tanks, some I have no clue what they are either

Halimeda incrassata:
http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Halimedaincrassatacatalog1.JPG


Halimeda tuna + mystery alga (?Avrainvillea?)
[img]http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Halimedatunaplusmysterygreenleaf2catalog.JPG

red(probably Botryocladia)
http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Mysteryred2catalog1.jpg

no clue red
http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Mysteryred3catalog1.jpg

red dish scrubby(ie no clue :D)
http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Mysteryreddishscrubbycatalog1.JPG

Neomeris annulata
http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Neomeriscatalog1.JPG

Halymenia
http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Halymeniacatalog1.JPG

A caulerpa not shown already
Caulerpa sertularoides.
http://www.rusynyk.com/coral/Caulerpasertularoidescatalog1.JPG

[albert]

pic 3 from the top(those are going to stay somewhat unknown, but I can get close)

that is a red(even though it is pretty green colored) possibly Laurencia or Chondria
Some more pictures from it three weeks later. Now it shows more reddish brown color. There is lot of pods crawling around the branches on the first picture :wink:

http://hepatus.mine.nu/aquarium/pics/040812-009.jpg

http://hepatus.mine.nu/aquarium/pics/040812-007.jpg

http://hepatus.mine.nu/aquarium/pics/040812-001.jpg

[Frick-n-Frags]

That plant is awesome. I'm very envious. thanx for sharing those pics.
I think some of the algae is as bizarre and awesome as any of the corals.

I wish I had better resources for really nailing the ID. Some Chondrias have tufts of fine hairs at the ends of the branches, which it seems your mystery red does also, but man, at a glance looks like Laurencia, so I can't do any better than those two Genera.

If someone said "guess or die" I'd have to guess Chondria. :D

[gman0526]

That is my tang's favorite algae!!! He goes crazy over the stuff and it is a great algae for pods to hang out.

[albert]

That is my tang's favorite algae!!! He goes crazy over the stuff and it is a great algae for pods to hang out.
That's great news :roll: Let's see what my tangs think about :wink:

[albert]

Some Chondrias have tufts of fine hairs at the ends of the branches, which it seems your mystery red does also
Yes, the tufts are clearly seen on the close-up below. Very nice, like a blooming apple-tree in spring time. :)

http://hepatus.mine.nu/aquarium/pics/040813-003.jpg


Here's the full view. BTW, look who's under the rock :lol:

http://hepatus.mine.nu/aquarium/pics/040813-006.jpg

[albert]

pic 3 from the top(those are going to stay somewhat unknown, but I can get close)

not sure about the last red. If those are little bubbles, most likely Botryocladia, but if they are flat, I don't know
Those are flat :roll: Here's how it looks now

http://hepatus.mine.nu/aquarium/pics/040814-005.jpg


..and yet another!
http://hepatus.mine.nu/aquarium/pics/040814-001.jpg
http://hepatus.mine.nu/aquarium/pics/040814-007.jpg

[nanoman123]

nice pic with the mantis albert! is it a peackock? i always wanted one of those... but i can never find the time to set up a tank.


~Matt~

[albert]

nice pic with the mantis albert! is it a peackock? i always wanted one of those... but i can never find the time to set up a tank.


~Matt~Yes, she is Odontodactylus scyllarus - peacock mantis.

[Frick-n-Frags]

albert, you have some of the nicest macros I have ever seen in my life.

what ocean did they all come from? Just wondering as I would like to try to ID those, but I will have to look far beyond my "at hand" information.

These last couple don't look like the run of the mill Caribbean stuff I can usually ID, but they look similar to some Caribbean, so I'm baffled. (like #1 looks kind of like some type of Gracilaria, but nothing I have seen)

Also, you get some very nice coloration. What type of lighting are you using on your macro-mantis tank? Do you dose any plant specific nutrients like iron or give the tank fertilizer?

[albert]

what ocean did they all come from? Just wondering as I would like to try to ID those, but I will have to look far beyond my "at hand" information. What type of lighting are you using on your macro-mantis tank? Do you dose any plant specific nutrients like iron or give the tank fertilizer?All those algaes are on a single rock from Bali. The refugium lighting is 2x39W T5 Osram Lumilux 860. I do not use any fertilizer nor additives. I run a CaCO3 reactor that keeps alkalinity, Ca and Mg levels very stable, so practially I need to add RO water only and make weekly 5% water changes. The water flow thru refugium is about 400 g/h.

Interesting that on the other rocks from the same batch I placed into the main tank there is no sign of any such algae. I wonder if the reason why macroalgae appears in refugium only and not in the main tank hides in differences between ligthing, water flow or lack/presence of various algae eaters :?:
I have lot of algae eater fishes like blue and yellow tangs, foxface, moorish idol, lawnmover blenny, lot of snails and hermit crabs in the main tank. I guess for myself they all together are the main reason.

[albert]

Frick-n-Frags,

http://hepatus.mine.nu/aquarium/pics/040814-005.jpg
What about Botryoglossum ruprechtianum ?
http://www.sonoma.edu/biology/algae/Botryoglossum.html

[Frick-n-Frags]

That looks like a good call to me.

Bali definitely explains why I am coming up clueless. I know virtually zero about Pacific algae. I still can't get over how nice the colors are.

[russ1974]

Zack asked me to help but I'm not real familiar with Pacific macro's either. The Red branching algae has got to be a type of gracilaria. We culture some just like it, but it is the Caribbean variety. Very beautiful plants though, if you'd like to trade for some of our cultures we would be interested. We will post some red macros that we carry in our store.

[russ1974]

http://www.liveplants.gulf-coast.net/images/aquatank7.jpg
Red gracilaria (flat bladed, very tough, grows from hard holdfast)
http://www.liveplants.gulf-coast.net/images/aquatank8.jpg
Red Gracilaria (large cylindrical bodied variety, thick branches)
http://www.liveplants.gulf-coast.net/images/aquatank10.jpg
Mixed varieties of Halymenia and Red Gracilaria Tiki in culture tank
http://www.liveplants.gulf-coast.net/images/redgrape.jpg
Red Bubble Botryocladia Sp. (Rare)

We will list some brown algae soon...

[russ1974]

The red disc shaped algae could be Flahaultia (lobed bladed rubbery algae) We want some :)

[Frick-n-Frags]

It grows really really slowly, but it sure is bright red. Maybe if I get some decent sized pieces going we could swap some someday?

[gman0526]

I have to agree with Fricks-n-Frags macros are just as interesting as coralsn many ways.

[Zack]

One way for sure, it grows. I enjoy seeing growth on my calurpa as i know it is usually a good thing.

[albert]

Some updates from my collection :)

Free floating "bird's nest". Maybe a sort of Chaetomorpha? Some "real" Chaeto is seen on the bottom. http://hepatus.mine.nu/aquarium/pics/040901-003.jpg
http://hepatus.mine.nu/aquarium/pics/040901-004-1.jpg


Yet another exiting algae. The tiny red dots on the branches are little flatworms, hope harmless ones :thinkhard: They really like it :lol:
http://hepatus.mine.nu/aquarium/pics/040901-005.jpg

[albert]

I would like to return to my old picture of a red Pacific alga posted earlier to this thread:

http://charon.assert.ee/aquarium/pics/040814-005.jpg


Now, four months later it looks rather different, maybe this would help to recognize it. :oops:

http://charon.assert.ee/aquarium/pics/050102-002.jpg
http://hepatus.mine.nu/aquarium/pics/050102-002-1.jpg

[albert]

Yet another amazing alga from my refu, probably a Hypnea sp.

http://charon.assert.ee/aquarium/pics/041230-003.jpg


Below is a detailed picture, note that all the blue and green hues are lost when taken out from water. :roll:

http://charon.assert.ee/aquarium/pics/050101-025.jpg

[FishinInTheDark]

Wow, Albert! That's the most beautiful macro I've ever seen!

[MarineScientist19]

umm just to let ya know Caulerpa taxifolia is illegal to obtain, have, or dump.... in united states, canada, u.k. germany, and most other europe territories.... due to its toxic nature , rapid growth rates, and very few consuming predators - none known that can be found in reef or warmer water areas....... just a FYI :-)

[FishinInTheDark]

Caulerpa is outlawed in California. There are laws in committee that would make it (and everything else included in our hobby) illegal. To my knowledge, they have not passed. If so, can you please post the bill name and number, because I need to write ANOTHER note to my representatives!

Thanks for your help!

[MarineScientist19]

hehe, i dont think u will find it under the law but it might be there its a usda ordinace , as far as other countries i know for a fact its outlawed, BTW im talking about taxifolia strictly! sorry if i was not explicit about the name

[FishinInTheDark]

You were specific, but I'm still not familiar with that prohibition. I will do some searching and see what I can dig up!

[FishinInTheDark]

Australia, France, Spain and USA (California specifically) have laws:

"EU: In a decree dated 4th of March 1993, the French Minister for the Environment and the State Undersecretary for the Sea banned the offering, the sale, buying, use and dumping into the sea of all or parts of the specimens of the algae Caulerpa taxifolia. The collection and transport of the algae are also subject to a system of authorization granted on presentation of a well-grounded request. The appearance and spread of C.taxifolia are covered at Mediterranean level by the two provisions of article 13 of the Barcelona convention's Protocol on Specially Protected Areas which was recently adopted in 1996 but has not yet come into force, entitled The introduction of non-indigenous or genetically modified species.
AUS: The risk of an introduction of non-native C.taxifolia to Australian waters has been recognized by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service with the implementation of an import ban of the species in 1996 (5.30Schaffelke et al., 2002). The alga was listed as a Noxious Species by the parliament of New South Wales (NSW) on 1st of October 2000; it cannot be bought, sold, traded, or kept in an aquarium in NSW (5.18Millar & Talbot, 2002).
NZ: The New Zealand government put the aquaria strain of C.taxifolia to the list of species on the Plant Pest Accord for surveillance of retail outlets by Regional Councils. The so-called aquarium strain of C.taxifolia, referring to the Mediterranean invasion, is on the interim species list to trigger a marine pest incursion emergency response in Australia (5.31Schaffelke et al. 2002).
USA: Assembly Bill 1334 (Harman), signed into law by the Californian Governor in September 2001, prohibits the possession, sale, and transport of C.taxifolia throughout California. This bill also establishes the same restrictions on several other species of the genus Caulerpa that are similar in appearance to C.taxifolia and that are believed to have the ability to become invasive. Furthermore, the importation, interstate sale (including Internet sale), and transport of the Mediterranean strain (i.e., aquarium strain) of C.taxifolia is prohibited under the federal Noxious Weed Act (5.321999) and the federal Plant Protection Act (5.332003)."

From this article: http://www.sbg.ac.at/ipk/avstudio/pierofun/ct/caulerpa.htm which hasn't been updated since 2003. I see interstate transport prohibition. I'll dig into those federal acts to see if taxifolia is illegal to just ship or if it's illegal to "obtain, have, or dump.... in united states". We'll see what I find!

[FishinInTheDark]

The Federal Noxious Weed Act prohibits transportation, but not ownership:

Movement of Noxious Weeds Into or Through the U.S. No person may import or move any noxious weed identified by regulations of the Secretary into or through the U.S. except in compliance with the regulations, which may require that permits be obtained. No person may knowingly sell, purchase, barter, exchange, give, or receive any noxious weed moved in violation of these provisions or deliver or receive for transportation any advertisement to sell, purchase, barter, exchange, give, or receive a noxious weed whose movement is prohibited. § 2803.

The Federal Plant Protection Act can be read here: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/weeds/PPAText.PDF . It appears to be illegal to transport c. taxifolia or dump, but not to posess it.

Whew! I'm still a law abiding citizen!

[MarineScientist19]

lol, just to let ya know the usda revised that 2 years ago and banned the use of taxifolia if u want the article ya need to call the usda field office and they will fax you or send you the revised version

[MarineScientist19]

btw as a marine biologist im happy they place this strain under ban because, of the negitive effect it has on the envirement (in non-native locations)...
all it takes is one small peice to cause another issue like back in 1994.

[FishinInTheDark]

I have my local Ag Rep working on it, but he hasn't gotten back to me yet. Stay tuned, because I will share the documentation I receive!

[cich1]

a marine biologist living in central Ohio? must be a tough commute to work! sorry i couldn't resist

[MarineScientist19]

umm thank you for the humor, yes with the *PERFECT* Economy work is scarce enough, but privatly funded work is here and there :-)

[FishinInTheDark]

Well, here's what I have found:

Taxifolia is on the noxious weeds list. That makes it illegal to transport or dump. The APHIS agent explained to me that it is not technically illegal to own it, but if you can't prove that you have had it since before it was added to the noxious weeds list in 1999, you must have transported it and it will be confiscated. You can apply for a permit, but it's unlikely that you will get one unless it is for educational or research purposes.

MS19, you were right. I was literal in my translation of the regulations, but it seems that was a big mistake! I will dispose of mine in the acceptable manner (wrap in plastic and freeze), and I urge others to do the same, and if you don't, try not to call attention to yourself as I did!

By the way, it has been proposed that all caulerpa should be added to the federal noxious weeds list (as it is in California). The USDA comment period has expired, but it hasn't been written into regulation yet. I'm sure the feds won't advertise that any more than they did when taxifolia was outlawed, but the APHIS agent promised to let me know so I can get rid of what I have and pass it along to CF.

[MarineScientist19]

well not all caulerpa should be banned because not all species are a hazard, the usa, germany, france, and the uk have had to exterminate taxifolia from nearby shore because some uneducated moron decided to dump his tank water into the sink or the water(unknown who or how but shown that it was impossable for it to have drifted the distance of 900miles and avoid currents and other factors, start reproducing in a highly populated coral zone, covering coral blocking light, consuming minerals, and disrupting the food chain.... It has No Consuming Predators except a couple of snail and nudabranch species that live in 65f - 69f, these species cannot be migrated to warmer water were the problem is, taxifolia is a species that this world can do without , trust me ur tank does not need it and the cost for a mistake is too great for some person to unknowingly screw the rest of the envirement

[MarineScientist19]

BTW here are the biological specs on toxifolia:
Light: 1-2 watts or more
growth rate: (AVG) 1 to 1 1/2 inch a DAY
temprature: 59F-84F
Bio-structure: Contains Sturdy exoplatica, Thallius Contains Neurotoxins, Spartatoxins and Saxitoxins
Absorbs: Most broken down minerals (metals, basic carbonates, ) But feeds mostly on Iron and Pharaphates (no not Phosphates) lol

[FishinInTheDark]

I don't believe that my tank *needs* taxifolia. I was on more of an informational quest, because I was completely unaware that it was outlawed nationally.

Just FYI, even if I went out behind my house and dumped my caulerpa in the creek, there is absolutely, undeniably no possible way that it would make it to the ocean, or any other place where it could colonize. (If it can't drift 900 miles, I don't think it's going to walk over land even farther!) That's the reason I'm having trouble with this manner of enforcing the Do Not Ship policy. (Big Brother, I will dispose of mine in the approved manner anyway.)

I think the sensationalization of the taxifolia incidents has caused a knee-jerk reaction with the government. It's much easier to enforce a blanket policy.

At any rate, I was asked to send pictures of all of my caulerpa species to my friendly local APHIS agent. I did not prune my 'fuge, but I dug through it very thoroughly and didn't find any taxifolia after all! It also appears that caulerpa mexicana has become extinct in my system too. I'll bet it has something to do with competition and available nutrients. The specs you posted, MS19, help explain that! I still don't mind that I got into this mission, even if the weed has perished in my tank! It has helped educate all our members! I am going to do a thorough pruning this evening, so anything that might be hiding will be disposed of anyway.

That was quite the learning experience on my part! Thanks for starting me down that path, MS19!

[MarineScientist19]

in ur case no it wont survive in freshwater or live on land of course, but the general idea is that it is better off not being distributed upon the aquarium world..

btw how much mexicana did u have or start with and how much light did u supply? i myself have my mexicana separated in my fuge, gets 5 watts/pG and grows fairly good , i would love to help ya figure out why because if you are like me then u want a nice collective species in the fuge (although, red razor appears to be the dominate caulerpa in my fuge)

[FishinInTheDark]

I have 4.5 WPG PC light over my 'fuge. Mexicana at one time was quite established, making up about 40% of the caulerpa in the refugium. But, I have let the tank overgrow. I suspect that it was just starved for light and nutrients by the teacup racemosa that is really taking off. Here's a pic:

http://pic14.picturetrail.com/VOL554/969371/5410254/95432056.jpg

That's a 29G tank. I am really trying to find time to prune that sucker down!

[MarineScientist19]

yeah thats probably why it died off, gotta prune for sure, i would get some plastic grid plates and use zip ties to tie large bunches of it to a vertical grid plate that way its hard for it to overtake but still grow and take in nutrients but thats just an idea, also that will allow seprate species to have same amount of light

[MarineScientist19]

i know this is off topic but how do u setup avatars? cant find it on settings menu

[gman0526]

"The Mediterranean strain of Caulerpa was prohibited under the U.S. Federal Noxious Weed Act in 1999. Since then, importation into the United States, as well as interstate transport and sale, including via the Internet, has been a federal offense. In 2001, the California legislature banned the possession, sale, importation, transportation and release of C. taxifolia and eight similar-looking Caulerpa species in California. The city of San Diego recently banned the possession and sale of the entire Caulerpa genus. However, some aquarists still have the plant in their collections and need to exercise extreme caution so that it does not enter the wild. There are proper methods of disposal, including freezing the plant and then encasing it in a garbage bag. Check the websites below for more information."

This info was obtained from: http://www.invasivespecies.gov/ismonth/archives/caulerpa/speciesofmonth.html

Definetely check this out

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/weeds/caulerpa/1-14-05frnotice.txt