Red Gracilaria dying - 7/28/08
I got red Gracilaria in a couple days ago and looked very healthy. since then it has started to turn green and looks like its going to keep decaying until there is no more of it left. I have it in my 10 gal tank with Chaeto. I have about a 2-3 inch sand bed with a few pieces of live rock and 5 hermits. I'm using a 20" 40 watt 50/50pc light and there is a good flow of water through the tank. I was wondering if it just needs time to adjust or am I doing something wrong? I use iodine, purple up, and iron for supplements for the tank.
<This is a very small tank, and it will be hard to accurately dose/ maintain stable levels of these things. Frequent water changes should help, perhaps a gallon change every few days to start...otherwise, this algae can be fickle even in well-established, large systems. Also, please take care to punctuate, capitalize correctly in future correspondence; this is for posterity, you know. Benjamin>

Aiptasia infestation & quarantine question
Dear Crew, 
<Hi Paul, MacL here with you this fine and lovely day.>
Last week, I obtained a half-pound of live Gracilaria parvispora (Ogo) from a dealer in Hawaii. I specifically asked the dealer if I needed to quarantine the Ogo before adding it to my downstream marine refugium. His emailed reply was no.
<First and foremost, quarantine everything!>
Upon adding the Ogo to my refugium, I noticed a few dead amphipods. A few days later, I discovered three 1-inch Aiptasia specimens attached to the glass and to a clump of Ogo. I've never had Aiptasia in my tanks before. After spending all night throwing out everything in my refugium including live rock, quarantining the Ogo in a bucket after the fact, sanitizing my refugium and hoping that the Aiptasia hasn't made it to the main tank, are there any other precautions I should take? 
<You should be aware that lots of people use Aiptasia in refugiums for nutrient export. On the other hand its possible that this dealer was unaware that he had Aiptasia in his Ogo. Most people are going to say that you don't have to quarantine grasses etc before you put them in your tank because usually they come out of a situation where they've been used for nutrient export.>
Regarding the dealer, should I simply warn him to check his Ogo tanks for Aiptasia or should I also demand my money back? What is customary? 
<I might email him and tell him that you ended up having to put the Ogo in quarantine because you found some Aiptasia in it and you didn't want to chance having that go into your tank. I'm sure he didn't mean you any harm, but if you feel very strongly about it you might see if he's willing to give your money back or perhaps you two can come to a compromise. You'll need to treat the Ogo in quarantine to remove the Aiptasia from what's there.> 

Aiptasia Infestation
Dear Crew, 
<Hi Paul, MacL here with you again today.>
(1) If Aiptasia is used in refugiums for nutrient export, how does one prevent the Aiptasia from contaminating the main aquarium? 
<The people I know who are using it in this manner are keeping in enclosed in their sumps. So far they are telling me that they are not having it move. I personally wouldn't like to take the chance. One person I know who is cultivating it in their refugium has a second tank with softies that contains peppermint shrimps and copperband butterflies in the line before his main tank, so he controls them that way.>
(2) Is it common for growers of Gracilaria parvispora to culture it in tanks with amphipods and other marine creatures, such as Aiptasia? 
<With pods, definitely. With Aiptasia, probably not. But there are many people who don't view Gracilaria the way that others do. To them its a nuisance. This is something that is changing as more people begin to use it in their refugiums.>
(3) Are you aware of any suppliers of live Gracilaria parvispora and Chaetomorpha linum within the 48 states? (I live in Colorado.) 
<Honestly no I'm not unless Inland Aquatics has it. However, I do know that there are lots of people trading it on lots of websites. One with people close to your area would be www.reeffrontiers.com. They have a lot of people based in the western United States who are using Chaetomorpha.>
Thanks very much. 
<Its been lovely to talk with you Paul, if we can be of any further assistance please let us know. MacL>