What is this????

[oceaninabox12345]

This tank has been running since June 21 of this year, and around 3 months ago i noticed a small patch of whatever this is. Now it seems to be making my frogspawn recede, and my BTA seems to not like it either on the third pic you can see that it is now covering many rocks (its the darker areas) it grows so insanely fast, faster than i can remove it and im now afraid its too many places to remove. What will eat it? Is it something im going to have to dismantle my tank to get rid of? Am i making a big deal over nothing? Thanks in advance!

 

[HotRocks]

#reefsquad

Anyone have any ideas here? It kind of looks like macro of some sort. I am not for certain though.

 

[Coralreefer1]

It is called Caulerpa Brachypus and is an invasive macro algae. It grows very rapidly and issues arise once it goes asexual in an aquarium.
Not much will eat it...best trying to remove it, remove the rock it’s on, use peroxide, or keep your lights off as it is photosynthetic.
Best macro algae is Chaeto, Gracilaria, Ulva and Halimeda.

 

[Ranjib]

Looks like a macro algae , not sure exactly what it is. Herbivore fish like tangs will eat it. But Id it first , and then we can check which fish is best for dealing with this. Fox face, tangs all eat algae

 

[Ranjib]

It is called Caulerpa Brachypus and is an invasive macro algae. It grows very rapidly and issues arise once it goes asexual in an aquarium.
Not much will eat it...best trying to remove it, remove the rock it’s on, use peroxide, or keep your lights off as it is photosynthetic.
Best macro algae is Chaeto, Gracilaria, Ulva and Halimeda.

Fluconazole will kill it? Things like reef flux?

 

[Coralreefer1]

You could try a Foxface, Rabbitfish, Tang, Sea Hare and Sea Urchin, which I see you have a nice Black Diadema one already. Nothing is guarantee just like using Peppermint shrimp to control and kill Aiptasia...my Peppermint Shrimp wanted nothing to do with my Aiptasia!

 

[oceaninabox12345]

@Ranjib @Coralreefer1 @HotRocks its definitely Caulerpa Brachypus. Am i SOL with this? Because there is no way i can get rid of all of it. Ill try having a blackout.. how long of a blackout are we talking? Any idea on what i can throw in that'll eat it? I have a massive yellow tang and he hasnt touched it, i was hoping he would

 

[Gareth elliott]

Not the safest addition....
but sea hares have been reported to eat some caulerpa species.

 

[oceaninabox12345]

You could try a Foxface, Rabbitfish, Tang, Sea Hare and Sea Urchin, which I see you have a nice Black Diadema one already. Nothing is guarantee just like using Peppermint shrimp to control and kill Aiptasia...my Peppermint Shrimp wanted nothing to do with me Aiptasia!

Alright, ill look into a foxface. Yea my urchin doesnt touch it, it just knocks my other stuff down(love him though) thank you so much so far.. any other ideas that down involve nuking the rocks/manual removal?

 

[oceaninabox12345]

If worst comes to worst, i can maybe take out the two rocks its on, but because i have no idea where else it is, and i dont want to have to rip corals off of the rocks, id really prefer not to. As you can see, some of the frogspawn on the right that is touching is it not happy

 

[rkpetersen]

Sorry about that caulerpa. It's very hard to get it all out.

Best macro algae is Chaeto, Gracilaria, Ulva and Halimeda.

Yes, however, note that ulva may eventually start to colonize many of the pump and other artificial surfaces in your DT, and it can be very persistent; difficult to scrub off completely, and resistant to a freshwater wash. This can occur even if there is no macroscopic 'piece' of ulva that ever gets into your tank, presumably via spores. It's too bad, because I really like the way ulva grow in my sump, not to mention that it is a fantastic haven for pods.

 

[Gareth elliott]

Yes, however, note that ulva may eventually start to colonize many of the pump and other artificial surfaces in your DT, and it can be very persistent; difficult to scrub off completely, and resistant to a freshwater wash. This can occur even if there is no macroscopic 'piece' of ulva that ever gets into your tank, presumably via spores. It's too bad, because I really like the way ulva grow in my sump, not to mention that it is a fantastic haven for pods.

+1
I had ulva decide to invade my display. Didnt add the actual algae either. Just rock rubble from the same tank.

Luckily this is edible , some extra snails and a dwarf angel was eliminated quite quickly.

 

[Coralreefer1]

I know it sucks to have to readjust your tank by moving rocks and/or corals, however, the caulerpa will ultimately kill your corals if they are not moved away from it.

 

[rkpetersen]

I would try a couple of sea hares, and some elysia crispata sea slugs. I don't know if they will eat that particular caulerpa, but they might. Elysia eats bryopsis with gusto and not much else eats that.

 

[rkpetersen]

Luckily this is edible , some extra snails and a dwarf angel was eliminated quite quickly.

I suspect I mostly saw it on my pumps because the fish and inverts can't easily get to food clinging to the leading edge of those. But it grew pretty profusely there and I didn't care for it.

 

[oceaninabox12345]

@rkpetersen @Coralreefer1 @Gareth elliott ive decided to remove the rocks with the Caulerpa on it as i already have a tang and two dwarf angels and they have not touched it. If it comes back, im gonna have to get myself a Foxface! Ill let you guys know how it goes. Thank you all so much!!

 

[oceaninabox12345]

Its only on two large rocks, a small one with a lot of rhodactis on it, and my frogspawn and hammers are absolutely COVERED. its also on a rock with an anemone [emoji58] so im thinking of breaking the part of the rock with the nem on it, as it doesnt want to unattach

 

[Gareth elliott]

If do peroxide, never had to remove caulerpa but had luck with bubble algae this way.

Fill enough of a 5 gallon bucket to fill about 4 inches from the top with the rocks in it.

Use a hard bristle tooth brush where you can and tweezers where you cant.
Apply the peroxide with a pipet or eye dropper to where the algae was. When done rinse the rock in the bucket.
If rock is out longer than a few minutes dip in the bucket anyway, then continue working on the rock.

Again this worked for an invasive algae, but not one remotely closely related to yours.

 

[oceaninabox12345]

So as im doing this, i look up to watch my coral beauty eat a massive piece off of one of the remaining rocks. Isnt this always how these things go?

 

[oceaninabox12345]

If do peroxide, never had to remove caulerpa but had luck with bubble algae this way.

Fill enough of a 5 gallon bucket to fill about 4 inches from the top with the rocks in it.

Use a hard bristle tooth brush where you can and tweezers where you cant.
Apply the peroxide with a pipet or eye dropper to where the algae was. When done rinse the rock in the bucket.
If rock is out longer than a few minutes dip in the bucket anyway, then continue working on the rock.

Again this worked for an invasive algae, but not one remotely closely related to yours.

Alright, ill try that. Hydrogen peroxide is ok, right?? Ive never had something like this before, so i dont want to mess it up and kill everything