Ulva in my DT?

[jbilliel]

Unpopular opinion here, the overgrown ulva in my DT has prevented a lot of other nuisance algae for me, including dinos I had early on and bubble algae that was growing on frag plugs. My rocks are covered with ulva and my corals don't mind it at all. I definitely think that it's necessary to remove them if they grow too large, but I'd rather deal with ulva than dealing with GHA or bubble algae. Also, the ulva has provided a safe haven for my copepods, which has been feeding my rainford goby quite well. I'm not saying ulva growing in DT is good, but I haven't seen any negative effects and it adds a little natural aesthetic to my rocks.

You were right! The sea urchins mowed down the ulva in less than two weeks and now I have all kinds of brown, ugly, strong algae growing instead

 

[0utworld]

You were right! The sea urchins mowed down the ulva in less than two weeks and now I have all kinds of brown, ugly, strong algae growing instead

Sorry to hear that, I think you might've removed the ulva from your system too quickly and it caused an "power vacuum" for other algae to take over. Urchins are notorious for their huge appetite.

 

[WheatToast]

So, I can tell you first hand that ulva is a horrible thing to have. Vibrant doesnt kill it, fluconazole doesnt kill it... my tomini tang could care less that it's there. Snails cant put a dent in it. The only thing I've found that kills it is dirrect application of hydrogen peroxide, out of the tank. Im testing 1ml/10g dose now... just started today.

Nutrient levels always test near or at 0, last ICP test came back 0.01 NO3 and 0.02 PO4, tank is 2 years old.

Kill it with fire dude. It wil take over and choke out corals.

I know I am late to the party, but the Ulva you have is not a typical "refugium" Ulva species, such as U. lactuca or U. fasciata, which might explain its invasive tendancies. The most similar looking algae to yours that I have come across is U. californica:

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I know I am late to the party, but the Ulva you have is not a typical "refugium" Ulva species, such as U. lactuca or U. fasciata, which might explain its invasive tendancies. The most similar looking algae to yours that I have come across is U. californica:

Wow, this has been a while. That tank was shut down because of the ulva took over amd killed all of my coral. All the rocks were sun bleached to make sure all algae was dead and wouldn't return if reused.