Grape caulerpa. Know by this name because of the similarity in appearance. A species of marine algae that's used in refugiums for nutrient export. Growth is exponential in fish only tanks incorporating refugiums due to the higher amounts of ammonia produced by fish wastes.
A peculiarity with this algae species is the sudden dieoff that occurs in the absence of natural sea water levels of iron in the aquarium. The physical appearance is dependent on water flow patterns in the refugium. A higher water flow rate yields a very dense form whereas a lower flow rate yields a very fast and open form of the algae. Another issue with caulerpa algae lies in the removal of the excess algae. While removing excess caulerpa from the refugium the algae should be squeezed in between the runners and then removed. Doing this ensures that the rest of the algae left in the refugium will not leak internal fluids into the aquarium.
Overall though a very good nutrient export algae for the Marine Aquarium. An excellent algae in which copepods thrive.
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