Macro algae : Sarconema filiforme

Sarconema filiforme ("Birds nest algae")

CARE : Easy, undemanding under normal reef conditions

GROWTH : Moderate to Fast once settled

INVASIVE? : Due to its moderate growth, long time taken to form holdfasts and seed rockwork and compact structure, we would class this algae as non invasive and ideal for a splash of easy colour or even as a centre piece in the reef aquarium.

LIGHTING : Medium to low

FLOW: All flow ranges, requires some movement to stop debris settling on fronds

VARIATION : Higher light results in lighter pink/red fronds and faster growth. Higher flow results in more robust thicker fronds, with less tight knit branching

HOLDFAST ATTACHMENT TIME : Long (months). 

NUTRIENT UPTAKE : Good

SPECIES INFORMATION:

Quite an unusual algae, in that it only 'pops' up sporadically in the wild undergoing dormant periods and is extremely localised to certain reefs. As such it is often misidentified as a Gracilaria species.

Not an algae we have had available for the last year and cuttings of it this year will be limited, our mother colonies struggled to come back last year, after they were cut  back to holdfast stock and as such are only strong enough now to take cuttings from.

Extremely structural with semi-rigid oval fronds differentiating into dichotenous branches that come to a pointed tip.

Ranging in colour depending upon lighting from light pink to deep maroon (Our colony is a deep red colour)

CUTTING INFORMATION:

(Aprox 5cm in length with at least on branch off the main thallus)

This sale is for a small healed dichotenous thallus cutting taken from our Sarconema filiforme colony.

Cutting sizes will be small. This species establishes far better from small tip cuttings than larger cuttings containing older growth. As such, cuttings will be taken from near the tips of a main thallus.

An example of a cutting is shown in the last image, along side a standard 20mm frag plug for size comparison