Caulerpa control advice?
 

Hi all,
I have two pieces of rock in my 20H that have caulerpa growing on them. I have tried to remove it by hand but the rock is so pourus that it is impossible to get all of it. Plus, pruning is intrusive and messy for the tank (plant bits always end up floating around). Can anyone suggest a fish or invertibrate that would help me clear this caulerpa out?

Would a lawnmower blenny help? I don't know, its name makes it sound like its fit for the job :smile: .

As always, thanks for the help.

- Chad

I'd try a tuxedo urchin first. :biggrin: He'll wear some, but eat most ime.

Emily,
Excellent suggestion! I think they are really neat animals but I always thought they just sucked up micro algae; I didn't know that they would munch on macros.
Thanks :biggrin:!
- Chad

Will urchins cause much problems by eating coralline algae?

I was told the tuxedo was much harder to keep then the black spiny urchin, do you agree?

I think that it would be a good idea to keep some of the macro growing, and use it as a form of nutrient export.
Trim is as it grows, then just throw it away.

Mitch

Trilinear,
Urchins eat algea (micro, macro, coraline) right down to the bare rock.

Cpt,
I just borrowed a tuxedo for a couple weeks from Jojoseb so I don't know how hardy they are in the long run. It seemed to do great though, scoured the rock clean. The common spiney urchin is not an option for me because I have a lot of softies and I've heard that the spiney urchin can stab your corals as it moves around.

- Chad

Mitch,
Good call. I actually have a sump that's packed with caulerpa under a florescent spotlight thats on 24/7. I just want the caulerpa out of the main because it tries to over run the zoos. I really hate that stuff. Even a less agressive macro would be fine.

- Chad

I have never found them difficult to keep. I have kept them for years. Now, thanks to TANGOMAN, I have a black spiny one too... :mrgreen:

Some people feel that by eating coraline, the urchin helps it spread more quickly. I'm not sure if anyone has done any research on this though.

can you take the two chunks of rock out of the tank? if so I would take it out and deal with the calurpa fast. I had it start with one rock and it took over my tank :rolleyes: Lawn mower blennies are film algae eaters so no the will not help.

a couple ways to try deal with it are to put it in a bucket of water with a power head and heater.. put it in the dark for a month. or the extreme method would be to boil the rock for say 3 hours to kill everything off.

Steve

Cool! I just transferred my black spiny to the rough-and-tumble tank (he's big enough to handle it) and will try a tuxedo in the reef. I think they are beautiful, especially when you spot them with a flashlight at night.

I finally got so frustrated that I took the rock out and boiled it on the stove for about 1 hour. When I took it out, all of the caulerpa was still hanging on to the rock and I was scared that it would just recover from the ordeal when I put it back in the tank. I ended up leaving it in a bucket of diluted bleach overnight and then rinsing it numerous times. The rock is now as white and dead as a bone... but at least its caulerpa free!

- Chad