What is this crap and how do I get rid of it?

[lionpaw38]

Rock is two years old and this crap shows up...its a vine of some sort........I think.....
Thanks

 

[spanko]

Okay I see the vine stuff. Some type of Caulerpa me thinks. Getting rid of it is no easy tank. Tell us a little about the tank it is in.

 

[lionpaw38]

It is a 30 gallon tank that was a break down from a 125. The rock was in the 125 for about 2 years until I moved it to the 30. It was running for about 90 days then this started to show up. I am setting up a 90 and I wanted to move this to that tank but that aint going to happen until I figure out how to stop this. I have never had this problem before.

 

[spanko]

Go ahead and do a search here and in google and read about the invasive "qualities" of Caulerpa. Stuff is a pain. It also has a tendency to go s e x u a l and send out spores that will make the tank extremely cloudy and cause the stuff to seed everywhere. I have found the only thing that eats it to be a Foxface, Siganus vulpinus. The other thing is if you try to manually remove it you will find you cannot get it all as those vines have little shoots that anchor to the rock and do not come off when you pull the rest out. Then they just grow new vines.

 

[lionpaw38]

I went with the Foxface advice I read about elsewhere..... and he cleaned it right up...spotless.....So if you run into this crap...FOXFACE!!! Woo Hoo

 

[m0nk]

It also looks like in addition to the caulerpa, you have some hair algae and some cyanobacteria.

 

[lionpaw38]

I didnt have a tang....just put in a sailfin and the fox face..add a lawnmower blenny and no more anything...