Animals that eat Caulerpa ???

[Dewman]

I am trying to find an animal that will help control the caulerpa in my main tank?
My liverock originally had the stuff growing on it 3 years ago when I got it. But the caulerpa never grew well under Compact Flourescent lighting. Now that I have had it under MH, it has taken off... Fast.
I initially let it grow because I liked the look of the tanik with some natural macro in it. But now has gotten out of hand. It has sunk it's roots into my gravel bed and is feeding off the detritus in the gravel.
Not only that, but the red version of flatworm is feeding on the macro and multiplying steadily. I break off a few leaves once in a while when I see them loaded with worms, but I am losing the battle.

I am getting ready to transfer the whole shebang into a 30 gallon Oceanic Cube. ( I was supposed to do this about 6 months ago, but I ran out of cash)
Anyway, I am finally doing it, but I want to clean it all up a bit first and try to get rid of the flat worms after I kill off the caulerpa.

Any suggestions for critters that LOVE macro? It's only 10 gallons, so be realistic.

Thanks
JP

 

[Anonymous]

Pick it off manually and cook the rock. I honestly can't think of any critter that'll eat that (that is approriate for a 10g tank as most of the good vegi munchers are LARGE fish).

 

[Anonymous]

If you cook the rock, you will lose the green stars. What if you move the stuff to the larger tank, then get a herbivore?

 

[Anonymous]

I think the problem is even if you move the stuff to a larger tank he'll munch off all that's visible then those stray 'roots' that cling into the cracks and crevaces will simply grow back when put into a tank without a herbivore.

 

[Anonymous]

No, I was thinking that he would be moving to a bigger tank in the future anyway and every tank needs a herbivore anyway?

 

[Anonymous]

That type of caulerpa is evil, plain, pure and simple LOL-most herbivores IME won't make a dent in that stuff and if they do graze it, it comes up from the roots. Heck, I had some rock with that crap on it that I cooked for 4 months in the dark (after I had stripped and scraped what I could off it and it still came back!

Green stars are common, I'd get some new rock and either cook or pitch the old stuff. You could of course prop some of the stars off it before ya ditch the rock.

 

[Jolieve]

I've been struggling with that kind of caulerpa for years. I have had success with emerald mithrax crabs eating it in small amounts in nanos (more than one crab has eaten it, so I don't believe that this is a fluke), but in my 75 gallon tank, where the amount of feather caulerpa is huge, the crabs can't keep up with the growth. Also, these crabs will outgrow most nanos so you really need a bigger tank to move them to later, or an LFS that is willing to rent them out specifically for the purpose of eating the macro algae.

It would be easier to take lawdawg's advice IMO, and more effective in the long term. The crabs only battle the symptom and are only effective for algae removal as long as you keep them in the tank. They are not the cure for your problem.

Good luck!
J.

 

[Dewman]

I seem to have a couple of options.

The rerason it is growing so well is that I cut down on my skimming so much to allow it to feed. I figure that once I move it to the 30 Cube, I will have about 45 gallons in the system and will have a larger, more efficient skimmer. My level of DOC will decrease and I won't have to worry too much about the growth of it any more.

For now, I am going to buy 2 mithrax and see what kind of dent I can make in it. I can always bring one back for credit when I am done with him.


As for the red flatworms, I have been trying different things on these little guys.
I have taken out a couple of corals, and given them freshwater dips. The worms fall right off and die. I plan on doing this to all corals before the xfer.

Well, anyway, thanks for everyones help and suggestions. I think this is just going to have to be an experiment. I'll post back here when I get some results.

Thanks again.

 

[cindre2000]

If you have a sump or refugium you can move some of the caulerpa into it. Then carefully go through and pick as much of it as you can off of your display rock. The algae in the refugium should out compete the stuff in your display, especially with the better skimming (and a 24/7 light cycle)?

 

[Jolieve]

One mithrax is all you need for a system of any size less than 50 gallons IMO. These crabs get large.

J.

 

[Anonymous]

My level of DOC will decrease and I won't have to worry too much about the growth of it any more.

I dunno Caulerpa is quite hardy as far as nutrients are concerned, thinking some other source of macroalgae will outcompete it might be wishful thinking. Also if you have ANY fish or feed ANY food you're going to still get it.

 

[Jolieve]

I have had all manner of macroalgae growing in my system, nothing outcompetes it.

J.

 

[Anonymous]

Gracelaria (sp?) will.

That stuff is evil if you get the wrong species (which I did).

Now I have to continually weed, even in the main display. :x

 

[Jolieve]

I have had gracillaria in my system as well. If you want to get rid of yours and have a large enough tank, get a tang. They eat this algae like candy.

J.

 

[cindre2000]

I have a really slow growing Gracilaria sp. that i collected in florida. I wish i had your "weed" since the yellow tang i got does eat the Gracilaria like candy and i would like some macro's in the tank for it to feed on. It did not touch caulerpa.

 

[Anonymous]

My yellow tang decimated that caulerpa. It only rarely picks at the prolifera.

 

[Anonymous]

You can always borrow a batfish.

 

[Anonymous]

I had a problem with caulerpa a while ago, and tried all kinds of urchins and fish and crabs, none of which really helped.

Then during the summer my temps went over 84 and the caulerpa all faded over a few days. Never to return!

 

[WRASSER]

maybe a blue hippo

 

[Mike612]

Don't get a hippo tang or a batfish or anything like that for a tank that small. The volume of the tank will kill those fish. The Hippo tang needs at least 75 gallons and that's a bit small and the batfish needs over 150 gallons.