Caulerpa Sertularioides/racemosa eaters for a 26 gallon

[danieljames]

I have had this display up and running for about a year now. I am constantly having to prune this stuff. I would like some info from anyone that might give me a suggestion on a creature that would control this in a smaller display. I was reading that a dollabella (sp?) sea hare might be an option, but i'm afraid that it will be to large in my display ie: bull in a china shop. None of my corals/frags are mounted with epoxy. They are just sitting on the rockwork. The sert. caulerpa is easily id'ed, but the other stuff is very close to racemosa. It has a bit longer branches, and doesn't look like patches of blackberries, but has small round leaves. Not grape caulerpa, but similiar. Thats as close to an id as i can get. Is it possible to control this algae with nutrient export? I feel i am doing a decent job of it. I skim with an asm g-2. I have appx. 30 gallons total water volume (a guess). I change out about 100% of my water volume a month with 5 gallon changes at a time. I run activated carbon passively in filter bags in the sump. The flow in my display is adequate for sps...i have several slimers, and some other acro's that i don't have an id for, that are happy from what i can tell. I do have some detritus buildup in my sump, which i could remove. There are two 150w de 20k pendants over the 26 bow at about 8" off the surface. I hope someone can give me some advice here.

 

[bc_slc]

sounds like bryopsis. Bryopsis sucks.

http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/pages/picture_pages/faq_bryopsis.html

http://omp.gso.uri.edu/discovery/biota/bpbryop.htm

I have hear emerald crabs, Sea Hares, Rabbit fish and even blue-legged crabs are all "supposed" to eat the stuff. I have tried all of these and have found none that eat it. Likely is different based on the individual animal.

Mat

 

[coralseas]

i have a rabbit and a spoted unicorn and i cant keep anything green in there,
they work super good, the unicorn wood be too big for u but a small naso wood do the same,
and use super glue gell it works great , pointer it sets as soon as it get wet.

 

[danieljames]

unfortunately i introduced a small purple tang (1.5") with the advice that it would do the same. She is only interrested in the small amount of a red turf like algae that is on the rocks. They would not get along would they? Wishfull thinking i'm sure......

 

[danieljames]

I also added some emeralds, but they don't seem to be doing much at all. I'm positive of the Sertularioides id. I'm pretty sure the other is caulerpa as well. From the advice i've gotten so far, it seems I might have to break down the reef for a permanent solution, but i'd just hate that. I think i would rather take the sps out and start a new one with them if it gets completely out of control. With the amount of critters on a reef, I can't believe there isn't something i could add.

 

[NaH2O]

Daniel - how much live rock do you have? It might be worth it to take the rock out and try to manually remove it best you can. Is it isolated to one particular rock? Maybe you could take that rock outside and boil it. I have a similar caulerpa growing in my tank that looks like racemosa, too, however, my tank is large enough to support a rabbitfish. She seems to either have kept it trimmed back, or my tank doesn't have enough nutrients to feed it anymore.

 

[danieljames]

I'm guessing about 30+ lbs nikki. I really can't say for sure. It's not isolated at all. Its everywhere. I posted some pics of the display a few days ago. I really don't wanna break the reef down. I think i would rather pull out the sps and make a display with them, and perhaps make this one a lagoon.....just let it go nuts. I'm sure my dragonet wouldn't mind. If ya can't beat 'em.....join 'em (or make a lagoon).

Is it possible to control caulerpa with nutrient export? I'm thinking my rock is full of detritus. I skim so heavily 24/7 on this small display, as well as doing large water changes, I would think i'm keeping them at an acceptable level. I use distilled water from walmart for my water changes. Perhaps changing to some quality ro/di would help. The caulerpa just laughs at me. It almost seems to appreciate the water changes. Maybe with that much light over a small display, its just inevitable.