Description
You are buying a healthy, live rooted Mermaid’s Shaving Brush (Penicillus capitatus) — a striking calcareous green macroalga with a single upright stalk topped by a soft brush of fine filaments, anchored by a bulbous holdfast that roots into your sandbed. in Key West, Florida, photographed under reef lighting.
About Mermaid’s Shaving Brush (Penicillus capitatus)
One of the most useful and best-looking plants you can add to a reef or refugium. Because it lays down calcium carbonate in its tissue, most fish leave it alone — making it one of the few macroalgae that holds up in a display tank rather than only a ‘fuge. It pulls nitrate and phosphate straight out of the water column as it grows, competing with nuisance algae for the same nutrients, and it spreads naturally by sending out runners across the sand. Tank-grown stock like ours acclimates far better than wild-collected and arrives free of hitchhikers.
Care Guide
Beginner-friendly and low-maintenance once rooted, rewarding a stable, well-lit tank with steady new growth.
- Lighting: Moderate to high — grows fastest and stays densest under stronger reef light.
- Flow: Low to moderate — enough to keep detritus off the brush without uprooting it.
- Placement: Plant the holdfast into an open sandbed at least 2″ deep so it can anchor and send runners.
- Nutrients: Photosynthetic and a natural nutrient exporter — no target feeding needed; it feeds on the nitrate and phosphate you want gone.
- Calcium demand: Being calcareous, it appreciates reef-level calcium and magnesium; keep them in normal reef range.
- Aggression: Completely peaceful and reef-safe.
- Water Parameters: Temp 76–78°F, salinity 1.025–1.026, Alk 8–9 dKH, Ca 420–440, Mg 1300–1400. Stability matters more than exact numbers.
Shipping & Live Arrival Guarantee
Ships UPS Next Day Air every Tuesday and Wednesday from Key West, Florida. Packed with an insulated box and a heat or cold pack appropriate for current conditions. The specimen is carefully secured to prevent movement during transit.
Live arrival is guaranteed. If your macroalgae arrives DOA, photograph it inside the unopened bag within 4 hours of delivery confirmation and contact us right away. We will work with you on a resolution.
UPS Next Day Air · Live Arrival Guaranteed. See current rates, ship days and how a claim works.
Shipping & Live Arrival Guarantee
- UPS Next Day Air, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We hold the box if the weather at either end puts the animals at risk. Livestock ships in a 4-spot box: a frag takes 1 spot, a colony takes 2, and up to 4 spots ship for one shipping charge. Each box ships UPS Next Day Air for $30 in Florida or $50 elsewhere in the continental U.S. Eligible livestock orders of $299 or more ship the first box free. A $20 Box & Handling Fee applies per box, including on free-shipping orders. We do not ship to Alaska or Hawaii.
- Live arrival guaranteed. Photograph the animal in the sealed, unopened bag and send it to us within 4 hours of the delivery scan.
- Approved claims are resolved with a replacement or store credit. We do not issue cash refunds on livestock.
- Coverage is for condition on arrival and ends at acclimation.
New arrival? Read this before you open the bag →
Full Shipping & Live Arrival Guarantee · Refunds & Returns
Conditioned in our Key West systems · FL Aquaculture Certificate #AQ0254072 · (305) 850-9949
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.