Stocking a refugium in a country without chaeto

[Anonymous]

But where seaweed is a big part of the diet. :wink:

It looks like Gracilaria is available to eat (called ogonori), though I won't know if it's available raw and cultivatable until I get there...

I really don't want to use grape Caulerpa (available as ume-budo - lit. sea grapes, particularly for use in Okinawan cuisine), but wonder if one of the other mainstays of Okinawan cuisine might also work. It's called mozuku in Japanese - otherwise known as Cladosiphon okamuranus. It's grown in Okinawa (i.e. grows in sub-tropical waters) and is eaten by fish according to this page. But does anyone have any idea whether it would work or do I have to experiment when I get there? :lol:

 

[Sea Turtle]

Couldn't you just order some online?

 

[Anonymous]

I suspect you will have no trouple finding something suitable in Japon.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I forgot to mention this is when I'll be in Japan. I have played with the idea of ordering some from the US and getting it sent over, but I'd imagine it'd fall foul of laws about importing plants. Although, if it were sent dry (or at least not in much water at all), customs might let it through as food. :lol:

Another option is tosaka (Meristotheca papulosa).

This is tosaka.

This is mozuku.

This is ogonori (listed here as G.chorda).

 

[Anonymous]

I suspect you will have no trouple finding something suitable in Japon.

Heh. You'd think so, wouldn't you? But the main edible seaweeds are nori, wakame and konbu. None is suitable for a refugium.

I guess I could pick some up on a trip to Okinawa. Could probably even get some chaeto that way.

 

[Len]

Do Japanese hobbyist not use fuges? Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen a Japanese refugium before.

 

[Anonymous]

Do Japanese hobbyist not use fuges? Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen a Japanese refugium before.

Leng sells mud into Japan so I would assume they at least have mud fuges running

http://www.ama-japan.com/

 

[Anonymous]

Not in any big way I don't think, and if they do, think grape caulerpa is still the default option, as that's all I've seen advertised on LFS websites. I even managed to find out what chaeto was in Japanese and did a Google search, but had no luck (though I did find a blog where someone was talking about the craze for chaeto in the US and commenting that it was unavailable in Japan). Lots of scientific research papers, which leads me to believe it grows in Japan at least...

 

[Anonymous]

FWIW

We have a very highly respected Japanese American in our local club. She translats for Amano when he visits the states for instance.

She also reports that planted tanks Both fw and marine are very common in the LFS's in japon. So much so that it is hard to find one which does not have planted or refugiums setup. And she regularily visits relatives in Japan.

Therefore I think you will have no problem finding suitable macros for a refugium.

my .02

 

[Anonymous]

FWIW

We have a very highly respected Japanese American in our local club. She translats for Amano when he visits the states for instance.

She also reports that planted tanks Both fw and marine are very common in the LFS's in japon. So much so that it is hard to find one which does not have planted or refugiums setup. And she regularily visits relatives in Japan.

Therefore I think you will have no problem finding suitable macros for a refugium.

my .02

I think the concept of growing macro as part of the display tank is more popular in Japan and you'll see seagrass and other decorative macros for sale. But I've not seen refugia really plugged as an option in the Japanese aquaria magazines I periodically buy (nor a part of any of the featured aquaria), nor really highlighted on LFS websites (other than in the context of miracle mud, where the recommended option seems to be grape caulerpa). And, as I've said, no macros for sale for use in refugia other than grape caulerpa.

However, my exposure is obviously limited and my ability to wade through lots of Japanese websites somewhat limited (although I can read Japanese, it's a mentally tiring process and I lose energy after a while!), so I may be missing key info (for all I know there's a huge refugia movement with its own bulletin boards etc. So I'm happy to be proven wrong. I'd be really grateful if you could ask her specifically about what algae people use in their refugia in Japan. If you can note down the Japanese name of algae she mentions, it'd be very good of you. Anything other than Umi budo is what I'm interested in (umi budo being grape caulerpa). Other than other types of caulerpa that is....

For info, here are some of the macros for sale on a website I look at (this one - Kazika in Yokohama - has the best selection of macros of the websites I know of - if she has recommendations for others, I'd love to know them!).

Something that looks a bit calcerous, like Halimeda.

Grape caulerpa

Some red macro I don't recognise.

Mangrove seeds.

Another Caulerpa.

Sea grass

 

[Anonymous]

My main goal in keeping a refugia would be creating the best environment for plankton production as supplementary food for the tank, btw, if that makes any difference to what people recommend I use. Nitrate reduction would be an added benefit.

But I'm put off caulerpa by all the stories about it going sexual etc...