how can I get rid of my pea soup?!?

[Jack]

Yah, they look like roots but they aren't.

I went through the "remove 150lbs of LR and scrub with toothbrush phase".. and it's not cool I think Steve is still battling his.

Take it out while you can!

[StirCrazy]

Rhizomes would be the proper term for the root like holdfasts.

Steve

[kootenayreefer]

Take it out while you can!

reffering to the caleurpa. I have done some searching and don't think what I have is caleurpa. I will try to post a pic today, I'd rather not get rid of it as the chromis love to hide in it.

[Delphinus]

There are many different species of caulerpa and even the same species of caulerpa can have many different forms. To me it looks like you have razor caulerpa. Yes it can be cool stuff, it is awesome habitat for microfauna. But it has a trade-off in that it: 1) tends to grow very quickly and if you have other things they can be choked out by it (like any kind of weed to non-weed relationship) and 2) it can sporulate or "go sexual" which is a sort of algae explosion which makes your tank cloudy and smelly for a day or two. So it does need to be pruned regularly if you intend to keep it.

If it's plant-like and in seawater, then it's either: algae, macro-algae (ie. seaweed), or one of a very few select species of saltwater tolerant plants. (There aren't many, seagrass/eelgrass/turtle-grass and mangrove trees come to mind).

Steve/StirCrazy: I didn't think they were called rhizomes. .. ?? To me a "rhizome" is a rootstalk ... a stem from which the plant stalks and roots come out of. I was referring to just the the holdfast part. There is a (what I thought was the) rhizome which is the tube-like stalk from which these tendrils come out of, as well as the leaf node things.

[kootenayreefer]

here is a pic of the mystery plant. razor caulerpa? perhaps. the name would be appropriate.

it has gone sexual once on me, it all went kinda brownish, then the water went cloudy for a day or two, but it seemed to clear up on its own. i am a plant person and like the idea of having plants in my tank, the local pet guy told me this was a marine plant, one of theonly ones able to be kept in marine tank.

here is the pic........



it hasn't seemed to take over, i'd like to keep it, but admittedly am a novice......perhaps it should go til i have more experience?

[Delphinus]

Most definitely razor caulerpa.

Beyond caulerpa some other cool algaes are Halimeda (which is calcareous) and sargassum (or "kelp").

I'm not an opponent of keeping caulerpas (or other macros) but it does require careful management. Ideally you want the stuff in a lit sump or a refugium of sorts where it doesn't matter if the stuff totally takes over. In the main display tank there will likely come a day where you don't really care for it up there, and sometimes you may find it may have been better to never let it get up there in the first place, rather than try to remove it after the fact. But that's not say we should never keep any: that's up to the individual tank keeper. If you're having fun then have fun with it.

But be aware there are downsides. 1) it does have a total weed mentality 2) sporulation can be hard on a tank if it happens often or if it happens in a big way 3) macros are known to have allelopathic behaviours (which is a case of being able to produce chemicals which interfere with or inhibit the growth of other species). So even if you choose to keep it, being strict about regular pruning would probably be quite prudent.

[kootenayreefer]

thanks tony!

i have been doing some reading this morning and have read basically what you just said. i hadn't even heard of refugiums......i would like to do some more research on refugiums, and hopefully set one up. for now i will cut it back hard, and look in uv sterilizers.

and are there any creatures that eat the algae that is in the water?

[Quinn]

Well to continue poking fun at Tony, you could purchase a skittish tang, but there is no guarantee he will eat caulerpa. Similarly, rabbitfish are supposedly big algae fans. My tang is also too good for algae, although my problem is Dictyota sp. and Sargassum sp., not Caulerpa sp. Blennies, sea urchins would also be something to research.

Personally I just pull algae by hand and I am slowly gaining the edge. Although the other night I let too much go down my overflow, thereby plugging it, and it was a problem when I realized that more water was coming up my return than was going down the overflow...