What is this and how do I get rid of it!!!!

[clownchic]

Can anyone identify this plant? If you can I would love to know what it is and how I can get rid of it. I'm afraid it will overtake everything if I don't find something or some system to keep it under control (or eradicated would work too). These are the best pics I could get (the plant is on a papertowel).





Please help before it grows over everything!!!

Clownchic

[3mm3]

What size tank is this in?

[clownchic]

Its in a 90 gallon rectangle mixed reef. The one in my tag.

[Psychojam]

Looks like a macroalgae similar to caulerpa. Would suggest manually removing it as much as possible.

[clownchic]

A month ago I took 3 large pieces of rock that were covered in the plant out and removed as much as I could by hand. Then I let the rock sit out in the snow for 5 days (killing everything, unfortunately good stuff too). I then brought the rock inside and kept it in a holding tank for 2 weeks before putting it back in the display. The few pieces of plant that were within the corals themselves have since multiplied and I'm back to where I was months ago. Will anything eat it?

[hybridgenius]

Definitely macroalgae... but I wouldnt know what kind. If you like... you could trim it.

[3mm3]

It looks exactly like the same kind I had in my tank. My powder brown tang eats it. Also a friend of mine has a rabbit fish that also eats it.

[sage_commander]

I have some similar stuff in my tank. My LMB eats it, and once in a while I remove a good sized chunk.

[3mm3]

I should add that my tang actually wiped it out. Within a few days total.

[clownchic]

sage commander - what is an LMB?

I have a yellow tang but he won't touch it. I have various snails too but nobody wants to snack on it. Would a blennie eat it? I would get a rabbit fish but it is just too big to add to what I have.

Thanks everyone - Clownchic

[Ebmorri]

LMB=Lawn Mower Blennie.

[sage_commander]

clownchic, my blenny eats that stuff all day, but does not seem to make a noticable dent in how much is in there. So about once a month I go in and prune some back so it doesn't take over the tank.

I actually like having some plants in there; it adds some diversity of color. I imagine it also helps with keeping the nitrates down.

If you're looking to get rid of it entirely, a tang is probably your best bet. I can't get one for a 46, but I probably would with a bigger tank.

[realest]

Those look like microalgea. I have those in my refugium. got them from my lfs for free and they told me is it good on keep nirate down. Just do some triming and you will be fine!

[jdm01]

looks like macro to me. if it is, i had a similar problem. I bought a yellow tang, pacific blue tang, and a fox face. I bought them because I really enjoy tangs. They took the stuff out in a few weeks. You do have to lower your feeding and not hang much algae or they won't touch it. Tangs should work, but you should also be careful to to buy fish to fix a problem. sometimes you just change one problem for another.

[Sk8r]

Refugium will get it. You have phosphate in your tank: getting something to eat it will only free it into the water---at that point either Phosban or, better, a fuge, can grab it and starve this stuff out.
It will survive rock cooking: it has roots.