Something else needs to be done about this

tim_12

tim_12

Member
I have a bunch of caulerpa growing in my main tank. I know its beneficial and desired, but the line needs to be drawn when its growing in thick patches on every rock in the tank, and is beginning to smother corals. I asked about a way to deal with this before and removing it by hand was pretty much the only suggestion. I've been doing this weekly, if not more, for the last few months and it keeps growing back thicker and new patches are poping up all over the place.
Is there anyting I can to to at least stop it from spreading so much, or preferably get rid of it all? Reduce photo period? Do phosphates encourage its growth (dont have a test for it yet)? Will a Lawnmower Blenny eat it? Is there anything that would eat it?
 
tim_12

tim_12

Member
I'm in Canada and its way more hassle than it's worth to ship plants across the border. Trust me, unless you want it for a refuge, dont get any. This picture was taken at the end of January. Now I can only see about 10% of that rock, and I'm picking it off the shrooms becide it all the time.
 
fraggle_a

fraggle_a

Member
My only suggestion would be to pick the tank clean and put some in a secluded low light area of the tank. If you put it in a high light area, its going to grow like fatkid in a McDonnalds.
 
tim_12

tim_12

Member
There are a few permits you have to get. I'm not exactly sure how to get them. It would be much easier to try to get them locally or on the famous auction site.
 
tim_12

tim_12

Member
Originally Posted by Fraggle_a
My only suggestion would be to pick the tank clean and put some in a secluded low light area of the tank. If you put it in a high light area, its going to grow like fatkid in a McDonnalds.
The last thing I want to do is rip apart my reef. I already took one rock out and it's next to impossible to get it all off by hand.
 
tim_12

tim_12

Member
Maybe a young one if I can find another home for it. My tank is only 46 gallons.
Any other suggestions?
 
jakebtc

jakebtc

Member
if you have a sump maybe put one rock in it for a couple weeks with no light but that doesn't mean it wont come back
 
celacanthr

celacanthr

Active Member
The best way to get rid of it from your main tank, is to introduce another macro into your sump, like chaeto, and then pick as much of the caulerpa as possible form the rocks.
My reasoning behind this is that we know that the only way for macro's to grow is with sunlight, alot of nitrate (or anynitrogonous compound), phosphate, and (a very tiny bit of) sodium, I believe the actual ratio for nitrate to phosphate to sodium is 5-2-1 (NPK).
So, for you to stop the caulerpa, you are going to have to remove one of these things. You obviously can't take away the light, since you have corals, so you will have to limit one of the other things. The easiest way to do that is with another macro.
The reason your caulerpa is growing so fast, is even if you have 0 nitrates and phosphates, the macro is using them as fast as they are beign created, so they never really show up on your readings. So if you were to say somehow rid your tank of the caulerpa this instence, then I am sure that you would find that over time your nitrates begin to rise.
So if you introduce another macro into your sump, adn then take as much of the caulerpa out as possible, then the other macro will use the nutrients faster than the caulerpa can, which means that the caulerpa won't be able to grow back again, at least not as fast and big as you see now.
HTH, just a theory
 
murph

murph

Active Member
Removal by hand is the only thing thats going to work so your in for a bit of a project here. Get a few rubbermaind container and siphon off some tank water into each. Remove rocks one at a time and peel off calurpa, may even need to scrub some, into first container and place clean rock in second.
Do it in half batches double check and return clean half to tank and start on other half. Its going to be disruptive to the tank and your corals probably wont appreciate all the moving around but like you said, something has to be done.
Toss the calurpe or at least confine to fuge if you have one and get cheato if you want macros in your DT. It will not attach itself like calurpa.
Good luck and you probably wont find it all that difficult once you get started. I do this with the rock in my 30 gal fuge about once a month to thin out the calurpa in there.
 
nm reef

nm reef

Active Member
Manual removal is probably the best plan....possibly some small type fish to eat it......it may even be possible to get a small yellow tang but long term it won't do well in a 46 gal aquarium. Manual removal and limits on available nutrients/lights would be most effective....but not very quick.
...and just on a side note...this type of situation is exactly why it is not suggested to attempt keeping such algaes in a display....they can and often do completely overrun a display if allowed to grow unchecked.
 
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