Impossible to eradicate !!!

mandy111

mandy111

Active Member
When we upgraded we used 2 nicely shaped rocks we had purchased and were in the sump of the old tank for a few months before the move.
This weed started growing, thinking the tangs would take care of it we didn't do anything about it, appears the Tangs don't care for it and its just now growing out of control, attaching & smothering corals and breaking off into large bits and floating around the tank, getting stuck in Gyers. I had picked and plucked only to have it return very quickly.

bad.JPG
bad 2.JPG

So today, decided it had to go.
As you all know, hubby is anal about scape and things looking OK.?
So 2 rocks removed, boiled in pot for 30 mins and outside to eventually turn into base rock.
We had done this before and had a couple of pieces we liked.

After opinions please,
Hubby likes both new. I like one new don't like the other. (not telling you which )
Just have to picture it purple and not white (yuk)
Hope it wont take to long to get coraline on it, I am constantly scrapping it off the black weir wall.
Will put corals back on when we know if they are right, they are fine on sand right now.
We want honest opinions please, if you hate it please let me know, if you love it let hubby know lol


Excuse the crappy IPhone shots.


new.JPG
new 1.JPG
new 2.JPG
 
pegasus

pegasus

Well-Known Member
I could be wrong, but it looks very similar to tea cups (ACETABULARIA SP.), which is a macro algae. It didn't last long in my tank, because my fish wiped it out fairly quickly. If it was tea cups, the tangs should have cleaned it up. Hmm...
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Hi,

Macros need nasty stuff like nitrates and phosphates to grow, and tea cup macro (Pegasus is correct on species) also needs an abundance of calcium. It won't do any good to test for the nasty stuff, since the macro is feeding on it, and you will get a false negative test reading. Your tank looks awesome, but if you don't get the PO4 and NO3 out, and lower your calcium, you won't get rid of the macro. In fact it requires so much calcium, it usually is short lived in the aquarium. I know that's going to hard, since your corals need the calcium as well.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Looks like Caulerpa nummularia to me. I disagree with the ID of Acetabularia sp. because the picture seems to show multiple fronds on each stolon which is a trait of Caulerpa sp.
 
pegasus

pegasus

Well-Known Member
bang guy said:
Looks like Caulerpa nummularia to me. I disagree with the ID of Acetabularia sp. because the picture seems to show multiple fronds on each stolon which is a trait of Caulerpa sp.
Click to expand...
Thanks for clearing that up. I wasn't sure, and thus the "I could be wrong" opening line of my post. I was a bit confused by the fronds, but since my tea cups never made it past the juvenile stage, I wasn't sure what a mature colony would look like. Thanks again...
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
I found this information, maybe understanding it will help get rid of it:

Although species of Caulerpa can be beneficial, they have several disadvantages. Caulerpa is a very fast grower that can quickly outgrow its environment and become a nuisance in any aquarium. In the reef aquarium, Caulerpa can effect corals by covering them and blocking available light. Some species, such as C. Prolifera are believed to release a chemical that can even stunt coral growth. This is also true in their natural environment. When the amount of nutrients on a coral reef get out of balance due to fertilizer runoff and other pollutants, some opportunistic species of Caulerpa such as C. Taxifolia, fueled by excess nutrients, can quickly take over the ecosystem smothering both native algae and corals. Another drawback is their resilient ability to spread by both sexual and asexual reproduction. Vegetative or asexual reproduction is when the algae forms a new cell from a fragment or spreads via the rhizome. This can be controlled in most aquariums by keeping the colony small and containing it to one particular area. When conditions are favorable Caulerpa will reproduce sexually, releasing gametes and tissue into the aquarium water. This phenomena is known as sporualtion and is caused by many environmental conditions such as a lack of nutrients, temperature, salinity, ph, etc. These sexual events can be detrimental to both corals and fish, sometimes releasing large amounts of nutrients and organic material back into the aquarium water. In the ocean, the effects are not harmful as the nutrients and tissue are quickly removed, however in a closed environment such an event can upset the natural balance in an aquarium if the pollutants can't be quickly absorbed by the filtration system. In larger, more stable reef aquariums dead tissue and excess nutrients are normally cleaned by both the tank inhabitants (live rock, sponges, microalgae) and or the chemical filtration system (protein skimmer, filter pads, media, ect)
 
mandy111

mandy111

Active Member
bang guy said:
Mandy - do you dose Iodine (Iodate or Iodide)? Do you know the Iodine level in your salt?
Click to expand...
HI, no i dont meausre Iodide in the tank. We use naturals sea water, so from what people are saying the spores (or what ever the reproduction things are) could possible come in the water.
 
mandy111

mandy111

Active Member
flower said:
I found this information, maybe understanding it will help get rid of it:

Although species of Caulerpa can be beneficial, they have several disadvantages. Caulerpa is a very fast grower that can quickly outgrow its environment and become a nuisance in any aquarium. In the reef aquarium, Caulerpa can effect corals by covering them and blocking available light. Some species, such as C. Prolifera are believed to release a chemical that can even stunt coral growth. This is also true in their natural environment. When the amount of nutrients on a coral reef get out of balance due to fertilizer runoff and other pollutants, some opportunistic species of Caulerpa such as C. Taxifolia, fueled by excess nutrients, can quickly take over the ecosystem smothering both native algae and corals. Another drawback is their resilient ability to spread by both sexual and asexual reproduction. Vegetative or asexual reproduction is when the algae forms a new cell from a fragment or spreads via the rhizome. This can be controlled in most aquariums by keeping the colony small and containing it to one particular area. When conditions are favorable Caulerpa will reproduce sexually, releasing gametes and tissue into the aquarium water. This phenomena is known as sporualtion and is caused by many environmental conditions such as a lack of nutrients, temperature, salinity, ph, etc. These sexual events can be detrimental to both corals and fish, sometimes releasing large amounts of nutrients and organic material back into the aquarium water. In the ocean, the effects are not harmful as the nutrients and tissue are quickly removed, however in a closed environment such an event can upset the natural balance in an aquarium if the pollutants can't be quickly absorbed by the filtration system. In larger, more stable reef aquariums dead tissue and excess nutrients are normally cleaned by both the tank inhabitants (live rock, sponges, microalgae) and or the chemical filtration system (protein skimmer, filter pads, media, ect)
Click to expand...
Wow, great article. Thanks for that. I believe (hope ) we have removed it completley from the system. Time will tell I suppose. We have removed both offending rocks from the tank, they are outside, no were near the tank, We tweezered all the roots that were on the corals bases, from what we can see we think its gone.
Will be keeping a really close eye, if even the tiniest piece reappears its gone. lol
 
mandy111

mandy111

Active Member
Honest opinions please,
Do you like the rescape ? Do i place corals back now or so you think we need to re-think the new rocks ?
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
mandy111 said:
HI, no i dont meausre Iodide in the tank. We use naturals sea water, so from what people are saying the spores (or what ever the reproduction things are) could possible come in the water.
Click to expand...
I'm wondering if your salt might have a little bit more Iodine than is normal. The Caulerpa would sequester it and that would make it taste bad to the Tangs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top