Is my tank cursed??

[jonbar1]

I've fought hard this last year to keep my original reef tank looking good but have had nothing but bad luck.

It first started when I got hooked on zoanthids. I accumulated a lot of nice frags and the moment I about had my tank filled with corals, Zoa Pox wiped through and took out a good portion of it. I figured it happens and so decided to start collecting only large polyped zoas and palys that were pox resistant.

The next major bout was with hair algae, and again after much work and money I defeated it and moved on. Sure enough, once the hair algae was defeated, the Caulerpa crawled out of the cracks and put a strangle hold on my tank.

I have now been battling and losing the fight with Caulerpa for many months...and I've debated starting over with this tank so many times.

And now, this last month or so something finally took hold that makes the Caulerpa look harmless...Asparagopsis! It seemed so harmless at first I just ignored the half inch patch of it that showed up on the corner of a piece of live rock. From what I've read, this stuff is unbeatable and not your typical macroalgae. Thank god it hasn't shown up in my frag tank!!

I guess my only option now is to completely start over with this tank and wait for the next cataclysm...

Here's some pics of the enemy:

Jon

 

[Kigs!]

doesn't bryopsis and caulerpa breakout usually indicates high nutrient level in the water? maybe overskimming might help.

 

[fishes2889]

Man that sucks.

I would start over and get some new fresh rock and put all the corals in the frag tank. Re-aquascape and then put em back in later on.

 

[jonbar1]

Overskimming is how I wiped out the bryopsis and made the Caulerpa manageable. I also do waterchanges every week and limit my light to 6 hours a day and feed the tank very rarely and do a waterchange the day after.

Unfortunately nutrients are not the problem, and that is one of the things that makes Asparagopsis nearly impossible to beat. It also binds bromides into it's tissue making it extremely distasteful to nearly all herbivores and it has no known predators. If that weren't enough, it grows faster than Caulerpa in a tank of rotting food and when plucking it, any tiny piece that breaks off grows into a new colony in days like a mutant Bryopsis.

I have no idea where I got it from, and hadn't gotten any new livestock in over two months before it appeared. I'm guessing by hindering the Caulerpa's growth, it got the opportunity it needed to take off.

 

[revhtree]

Man that stinks!! Honestly if I were you, I would probably throw all my rock in a trashcan with water and let it cook. I would then buy some new rock.

But you got to find where your problem is coming in at....

PS. if you need somebody to hold that special little orange paly you have I am the man!!

 

[chadfarmer]

do you have a refug

maybe add a refug and out compete the other algea with another

 

[jonbar1]

After more research I'm gonna try one last ditch effort before putting all my corals in the prop tank and tearing the display tank down. I went and got 6 Mexican Turbo Snails after reading a few success stories with them and the "red plague".

Fingers crossed!

Now if I could just find a critter that ate Caulerpa...

 

[Randy]

have you tried turning out the lights for 4 or 5 days.I read a post somewhere about this and on the 4th and 5th day they used actinic only and went back to full light 6th.I will see if I can find a link.

 

[sr71]

didn't read all the post but how about a tang

 

[jonbar1]

THANK THE MERCIFUL REEF GODS!!!!

After acclimating the snails I placed them on a rock covered with the Asparagopsis and within seconds they started grasping it, tearing it off and eating it!! The LFS had them in a tank with no algae so they must have been pretty hungry.

I'll keep their progress updated in case anyone else ever encounters the Red Plague.

RE: getting a tang, this algae tastes bad to tangs, foxfaces, and the like and they will not eat it from what I've read about other's experiences. My tank is also a 12g AquaPod and I don't think there is a tang small enough to be comfortable in it.

 

[divecj5]

Congrats on finding something to take care of business....hopefully they will be the right fix for the job and things will start looking up in the tank

 

[Kigs!]

woot!! glad it worked out jon

 

[Azurel]

Great news Jon....

 

[MarvinsReef]

awesome Jon.. glad those turbos are working for you..