illegal

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Location
morningside, durban
Hi fellow reefers

So i was at a LFS today checking out stock and was chatting to the owner and i was telling him how no one in durban assisted me with macro algea and a guy from PE assisted with cheeto. He then tells me cheeto is illegal? ??? Is this true???
 
I know caulerpa could be illegal but cheato is legal
 
An interesting lfs I only know of durban poison being illegal.
 
Make it make it before they come and take it
 
Lol... yo pass the blunt, dont front.... you had it for a minute but it seems like a month :)
 
If its Green then it must be Mean . Lol Think the guy must have been smoking something to tell you that chaeto is illegal.
 
I not sure caulerpa is illegal in South Africa. perhaps @459b could help. I do know that it is illegal in some European countries, as it is an invader species. That being said, I am sure it would also invade our waters too. They should make bryopsis illegal!
 
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Would not make much sense to make something illegal that is found here. It's not common this far south, but there are absolute mountains of it from Kosi northwards. Basically anywhere you get seagrass you get tons of chaeto.

It is a real pain to find Caulerpa and other macroalgae from KZN reefers. Seems to just be a case of hardly anyone having it. Maybe the higher water temperatures in our tanks cause it to crash more often or something.

As far as I know Caulerpa is only banned in places where it could escape and become invasive (Mediterranean, California etc). Wouldn't make sense to ban it because nearly all species occur naturally in the wild here, even if it is at the edge of their range.
 
I have tons of caulerpa, it's a weed in my tank, my sump is a blanket of it. Two species; Caulerpa taxifolia and Caulerpa racemosa My racemosa sp. doesn't grow as fast. I can't grow chaeto, I think I have aleopathy from the Caulerpa
 
I have tons of caulerpa, it's a weed in my tank, my sump is a blanket of it. Two species; Caulerpa taxifolia and Caulerpa racemosa My racemosa sp. doesn't grow as fast. I can't grow chaeto, I think I have aleopathy from the Caulerpa

I can't grow chaeto even when I don't have Caulerpa. Kinda annoying.

The local blue Dictyota is a really cool algae to have. Bright iridescent blue and easier to keep in check than Caulerpa. Yanks are always complaining about it taking over, but IME it's really soft and easy to remove and much slower growing than the green macros. It's all over the place in KZN rockpools and shallow gulleys.

KwaZulufig076-1.jpg
 
Mmmmm, like saringa trees. Bet you everyone has one in there garden. :tt2: (Oh I don't chopped mine down).
 
Even that is probably only the aquarium strain that tolerates cooler water. We do get C. taxifolia here naturally.
 
Yes I think it will be very hard to police. IMO they will just stop imports. but of course if one does get cought with it one might be in for a nasty rap on the knuckles.
 
thanks guys I must say I was shocked to hear this as a lot of people have it and distribute to others.
what would the ideal temp be for the cheeto to thrive and also the corals. I was always told 26 degrees and my chiller is set at that and of course us lucky guys in Durban heater is off.

thanks guys

@ Lord Blackadder you are most welcome to some cheeto when mine grows by all means
 
Most of the stuff in the seagrass is sitting in 10-20cm deep water for half the day. Temp there reaches 35C or more. So I'd go warmer rather than cooler for max growth.
 
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