how to kill off grape calurpa????

[outprowllin]

does anyone know how to kill off grape calurpa.. i have been battling it for months now and ive had it...i pick it off of my rocks with tweezers. it just grows back...my bio load is very low i have no measureable amounts of nutriants i just want to know how to kill it off.. it doesnt seen that there is anything that eats it.. it is the most aggrivating nusance i have dealt with in all my years in this hobby...short of throwing away 150 lbs of rock, whats your suggestions???? jaime

 

[shavo]

have any tangs? get a yellow or a scopas, I guess grape calurpa is bubble calurpa?
my tags attack it when i throw it in my tank for a treat from my fuge

 

[CG1]

does anyone know how to kill off grape calurpa.. i have been battling it for months now and ive had it...i pick it off of my rocks with tweezers. it just grows back...my bio load is very low i have no measureable amounts of nutriants i just want to know how to kill it off.. it doesnt seen that there is anything that eats it.. it is the most aggrivating nusance i have dealt with in all my years in this hobby...short of throwing away 150 lbs of rock, whats your suggestions???? jaime

Jaime - your tank levels are not what you think, the calurpa is eating them so quickly that your tests can not detect them. Anyway, if you put a tang in your tank the algae will be gone in a day – but your nitrates will sky rocket since the algae is not there to handle it. You may need to look into the cause of the calurpa more so than how to manually rid the tank of it. Alternatively, make a fuge – just perk some water slowly through a 5 gallon pale bucket (turn the volume every hour) give it a light source and toss in the calurpa from your tank.

 

[Anonymous]

I spent two months establishing it in my tank before re-introducing my tangs to feed on it.

 

[ChrisRD]

Not sure how your system is setup, but assuming you have a decent skimmer and considering all that live rock you have I wouldn't expect removal of the caulerpa to have any effect on nitrate levels.

In addition to grazing animals and manual removal you could try starving it of nutrients by using a phosphate media as well. If you have corals in the tank, be cautious about lowering your phosphate levels too quickly, however, as it can cause problems.

 

[CG1]

Not sure how your system is setup, but assuming you have a decent skimmer and considering all that live rock you have I wouldn't expect removal of the caulerpa to have any effect on nitrate levels.

In addition to grazing animals and manual removal you could try starving it of nutrients by using a phosphate media as well. If you have corals in the tank, be cautious about lowering your phosphate levels too quickly, however, as it can cause problems.

Chris - I am curious, why are you dismissing nitrates and inserting phosphates? I read your post and immediately agreed with you that phosphates are an equal contributor. But lets face it, if the effect is removed than the cause will surface – and its more than likely going to be nitrates or phosphates…no? All the live rock in the world isn't going to rid the tank of nitrates -- not to mention we don't know the size of the tank

Anyway – your statement of “starve the nutrients” I agree the most with – find the cause and fix it, whatever the nutrients are.

 

[ChrisRD]

Chris - I am curious, why are you dismissing nitrates and inserting phosphates? I read your post and immediately agreed with you that phosphates are an equal contributor.

I'm not dismissing/inserting anything - I just wouldn't expect a significant rise in nitrates when eliminating caulerpa from the tank. It's only one small part of the picture when we're considering where all the nutrients in the tank are going. Also, IME phosphates are a far more limiting nutrient with most algaes in our systems.

All the live rock in the world isn't going to rid the tank of nitrates

Not true. Live rock/sand provide lots of denitrification via anaerobic bacteria. In fact, this is one of the major benefits of running a system with live rock/sand vs. inert artificial biofilters. IME that's just one factor in running a nitrate free tank, however. Having a good skimmer (ie removing wastes before they break down), exporting detritus and limiting nutrient input are others.

 

[Christeon]

Any chance he may have valonia.


valonia

grape calerpa

 

[Len]

My tang won't touch caulepra :? It's still tiny though, so there's still hope. I have to manually prune it.