Discovered A New Brackish Water Plant!

[Mustafa]

I haven't established minimum or maximum salinities but this species seems to have a wide salinity tolerance. It's flourishing here at the same salinities as the mossballs and supershrimp macro (and shrimp of course)..which all have a wide range too. I've posted an update in another thread about this but I'll post one here soon too.

[Arnold]

I have collected some macroalgae here in the coast of Tenerife, Canary islands. Chaetomorpha linum a very adaptable macroalgae who can live in brackish water and Ulva prolifera or Ulva intestinalis (former Enteromorpha) another very adaptable family of macroalgae who lives in estuarys and also freshwater. Im gonna try them in my Opae ula set up.

Chaetomorpha linum


Ulva sp

[Mustafa]

Let us know how it goes!

[Arnold]

The fine Chaeto that I collected here in the tide pools of the coast of Tenerife are doing pretty good in brackish. The Ulva rigida (a very similar species to the Ulva latucca) its doing good and pearling oxygen but not growing. The marine Cladophora live but not growing also. The Aegagropila "marimo" its growing and pearling actively.

A interesting new specie that its surprising me about his good growing its the Cladophoropsis membranacea, when I collected this macroalgae I thought that it was cladophora but it didnt look like any Cladophora so I do some research and I found this specie. Its a widespread species in warm seas that grows in rocks in the intertidal zone that grows epilithically developing in tight cushions or mats, in exposed or sheltered habitats

[Mustafa]

Do you have any "before" and "after" pictures of these plants? To determine if they are actually growing we need to see pictures over time.

[JasonG3333]

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TANK UPDATE
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As mentioned in a reply on page 1 of this discussion, this plant surfaced in a subsequent tank after transferring nothing but the animals from one tank to the other. No other materials were shared other than the water clinging to the fish net while moving the animals over. Below are current photos of the newer tank...

BEFORE:

Jae Senji hawaiian red shrimp opae ula 25

AFTER:

Jae Senji hawaiian red shrimp opae ula 31

Jae Senji hawaiian red shrimp opae ula 32

Jae Senji hawaiian red shrimp opae ula 33

Jae Senji hawaiian red shrimp opae ula 34

Periodically, I will use aquarium tweezers to pluck as many of these plants as possible off the substrate so that it is growing only on the various objects in there while keeping growth to a minimum on the "ground level". Doing this is partly simply for aesthetics and preventing it from growing on every square inch of surface area in the tank (animals would be fine either way). I also thought it might be good to provide the shrimp unimpeded access to the substrate since that is where they forage for food more than anywhere else in the tank. But again, even if I didn't do this, no matter how thick the growth gets, the shrimp would still work their bodies all the way down to the substrate to get to the gunk building up at the base of the plants. I've never seen a shrimp get trapped, so no worries there. Here's a shot following my last session of landscaping. Look at all that perfectly healthy Batophora Occidentalis going to waste! ...

Jae Senji hawaiian red shrimp opae ula 35

The below photo is of the very tank that started this discussion which I eventually gave to Mustafa so that he could attempt to propagate and offer this plant in his online shop. In October 2018, he had posted some photographic updates here:
https://www.petshrimp.com/discussions/v ... =16&t=6356.
Definitely thicker than when I gave it to him, so seems to be doing well. Per that discussion, Mustafa is still trying to figure out the logistics surrounding successfully shipping these little guys.

[Dch48]

I just saw this thread and I have read through a lot of it and the others. I have a question. Has anyone tried collecting the spores/seeds and transferring them to another tank to see if they grow. If they do, that may solve the distribution issue.

[Mustafa]

I transferred the spore "packages" to new tanks, but could not detect any new plants springing up. I suspect the spores were simply not "ripe" yet. The green spore packages turn red/orange when they are ripe, but you need to find the right timing to collect them as they get released fairly quickly after "ripening." I'm still investigating this issue....

[Mustafa]

Thanks for the update, Jason! Great looking tank!

[Yensidmn]

So I’m new to brackish water tanks.

This plant is beautiful! I see that this thread has been inactive since 2019. Any updates? Anyone selling, sharing or trading?

[Mustafa]

I still have this plant and it is doing well. I have transferred it to a few other tanks where it has established itself. In the main tank it has gone through several "boom and bust" cycles. Almost the entire plant population died off within a few days/weeks, but came back and filled the tank once again by sprouting from spores still in the tank.

It looks beautiful, but still not easy to ship to people. I may make them available on a limited basis in 2022.

[AquaWaifu]

I still have this plant and it is doing well. I have transferred it to a few other tanks where it has established itself. In the main tank it has gone through several "boom and bust" cycles. Almost the entire plant population died off within a few days/weeks, but came back and filled the tank once again by sprouting from spores still in the tank.

It looks beautiful, but still not easy to ship to people. I may make them available on a limited basis in 2022.

Hello, it's 2022, I was wondering if these will be available soon?

[Mustafa]

Check this:

viewtopic.php?p=48295#p48295

If you're ok with a possible initial die off, then maybe we can start offering the plant in the shop.

[dglidden]

I for one would be willing to risk it, they are such an elegant-looking algae! Plus I've had worse luck in other hobbies, so I'm willing to take a higher risk than others probably.

[Paulzie67]

Hello,
I Know this is an old thread but seems to keep getting reDiscovered. I found a tiny plant on a trip to Key West (I'm always looking for new plants for my Opae Ula "containers") and thought what I had found was a few tiny pieces of Caulerpa racemosa. It was actually tangled in a piece of Halimeda I brought home. It was quite thin and fragile but I was Hopeful I could keep it going.... at least One piece.
When I got home, I left one piece free floating, but gently nudged down to the substrate. The Larger of the two, I glued to a small piece of Lava Rock and dropped it in. Both seemed to do well for a Short while, Growing a little bit but never seeming to thrive and never seeming to put down... "Roots".
But Since I'm Always Searching for New Macro Algaes or plants, I stumbled upon this (as well as the other threads on here) Thread mentioning "Batophora occidentalis"!!!
Here are pics of the Plant I found! I Believe it Too is Batophora occidentalis And JasonG3333, If you agree, then we can now say it is found in Key West, or the Caribbean.
Unfortunately, Mine eventually died. I really pampered it too, but not knowing anything about it, I didn't know if I should have it "Planted", If it should be in Bright light, or what the Salinity should be. Everytime some of the little spheres disappeared, I assumed it was dying and changed something... usually lighting, and it seemed to keep going. I think it survived about 2 months, but then just turned clear and that was it
So, here's pics.... What do you think JasonG3333






I've tried many other types of Macros too... Had success with some and had failures with others. I've even had some that were iffy... can post pics for those that may be interested. I am also on the Opae Ula group on FB and have posted all pics there too with results