Caulerpa removal ???

[mirkus]

I have some of that terrible macro (aka caulerpa) that came in as a hitchiker on my live rock. HOW the heck do I get rid of the stuff for good?

I have removed some live rock to sit in a bucket of darkness for a few months. Will that do the trick?

Recently I've seen a small sprout pop up on another rock.

DIE CAULERPA!! Please keep in mind my tank is only 30 gallons.

[mirkus]

nothing I can do?

[dmirza]

maybe you can borrow a baby tang for a few weeks until he is done eating all of the caulerpa

[NicoleC]

Almost nothing eats caulerpa, at least not anything we have access to. It's quite noxious. Diadema urchins MAY eat it, but tht is not appropriate for a 30g anyway. Light deprivation will only make it hibernate until conditions are good again and it will grow back from the rootlets.

Every garden has weeds. May I suggest tweazers, a siphon hose, and 15 minutes a week weeding? Do it religiously -- don't let it spread, as you can't totally pull out the rootlets. Leaves are the booby prize -- go for the runners and carefully pull up whole runners at a time. And whatever you do, don't allow bits of it to float off in the tank, as it reproduces by fragmentation extremely well, and the tiniest piece can turn into a whole new infested location.

Of course, other methods of algae control like nutrient, high pH and competing algae in a refugium apply.

[mirkus]

I thought that tweezing can cause problems too.... or is that just tweezing and breaking.


And light deprivation will not kill it?

[NicoleC]

Light deprivation will temporarily put it in check, but with light it will come back. Sorry, this stuff is a real survivor.

Try not to break it or crush it. I use long forceps, and it does take learning a certian knack to get under a runner and gently pull it up so you get the most plant in a nice long strand. While you are getting the hang of it, the siphon hose will help suck up any noxious chemicals you accidentally release by breaking it, as well as bits of the plant.

[Anthony Calfo]

I'm going with flamethrower.

[NicoleC]

LOL!

Many years ago, I had a clownfish that bonded with some feather caulerpa. She was not nice and sweet like my babies now. It's hard to believe ocellaris' can draw blood. :eek2:

It's also a little hard to believe I used to sell the stuff back to the fish store...

[Frankysreef]

My tangs eat the grape kind.

[longra]

I ended up "cooking" my rock to get rid of it.

[Anthony Calfo]

I would not recommend cooking the rocks... almost never, assuming you want to preserve maximum biodiversity (what little we do get from typical live rock imports). It is a largely misunderstood and misapplied notion and technique IMO.

[DitchPlains2]

I would reccomend medium to medium rare

..mmmmmm tasty with a nice Bordeaux or a Pinot Noir.

[boxfishpooalot]

I have 5 tangs in my tank. Regal tang, naso tang, unicorn tang, yellow tang, and a powder blue tang.

The only tang that will eat it is the unicorn tang(5"). (its in my sump and somtimes a "bulb" will float out. He always eats it)