caulerpa taxifolia invasion

[drhyne]

I had a small leaf of caulerpa come in on a coral frag. I plucked it. It still continued to grow. I snipped away the rock that the coral was attached to. I thought that got it. A few weeks later it came back. I threw away the coral frag. No frag, no problem, right.... Wrong! Now I have it growing from my over flow box. It is on both sides of the box and is firmly rooted in the plastic! This stuff is insane! Every 2-3 days I have to pull off as much as I can to keep the water flowing.

Do you guys have any idea how I can get rd of this before is takes over? None of the fish or cleanup crew will touch the stuff. My tank is an AGA 65 with the built-in overflow. I can't remove the plastic!

Please help!

D_.
Dan Rhyne

 

[Sea Turtle]

Not really sure other than just keep remving it as soon as you see it starting to grow. I have this stuff in my refugium and it too grows like mad. Very fast. It is starting to grow out the overflow pipe from the fuge. I have been considering removing it and only using cheato. Anyway, I would say just keep removing it before it can get a good hold.

 

[drhyne]

Supposedly there are only 2 ways to control it. Chlorine and some strange sea slug. I am getting very concerned because this stuff can grow out from a single cell. It reproduces via a cloning type process. It could very well take over my overflow box and get into my circulation pump. The bits and pieces would cause the entire tank to get infested.

D_.

 

[Anonymous]

You could try just 'giving' it a place to reside, and keep that bunch trimmed down. I used to use it in-tank to help control nitrate levels, to great success. I had to trim it down regularly, but I grew out my corals and other non-motile inverts just fine. It also suppressed microalgae very well.

 

[Sea Turtle]

You could try just 'giving' it a place to reside, and keep that bunch trimmed down. I used to use it in-tank to help control nitrate levels, to great success. I had to trim it down regularly, but I grew out my corals and other non-motile inverts just fine. It also suppressed microalgae very well.

I have a good deal of this stuff in my refugium. Do I have to worry about it getting in the main diplay tank?

 

[Anonymous]

I honestly don't know. I never had a problem with mine "bolting" (going sexual for its reproduction), or growing in different components of the system. Have you had yours long? Keeping it trimmed seemed to really be key for mine, keeping it from going sexual or otherwise dumping back in all those nutrients it had taken up.

 

[Sea Turtle]

I honestly don't know. I never had a problem with mine "bolting" (going sexual for its reproduction), or growing in different components of the system. Have you had yours long? Keeping it trimmed seemed to really be key for mine, keeping it from going sexual or otherwise dumping back in all those nutrients it had taken up.

I haven't really had to trim it back yet. Only have had the refugium for a month or two.

 

[Anonymous]

There were times I had to trim mine every three to five days. I even had a little Scopas who loved to browse on it (that surprised me, didn't think anyone would eat it).

 

[fishinchick]

I know this thread is kinda old but ... for what it is worth ... if you pick it off every time you see it - eventually it stops growing. I would say it should stop after the 3rd or 4th time you pick it off the rock at the most - normally.

If it's growing though, put it in your sump. As long as the parts can't get to the powerhead you shouldn't have a problem with it getting into the display

 

[drhyne]

I have pretty much done exactly what you said. I found that removing it by hand and then freezing it with dry ice seems to work. The problem is the roots are in the screens for my overflow. I just can't get all of it. Pieces have rooted in the sump and are growing well down there. It appears that with the increased growth in the sump the display decreases. I guess they are both fighting for nutrients. The problem with its growth is that critters don't like it. They don't eat it. They don't live in it. It's like a green desert devoid of micro life

 

[Anonymous]

...
It appears that with the increased growth in the sump the display decreases.

...

sounds like you have found a solution.

 

[drhyne]

... work around

 

[Anonymous]

Sometimes that is the only solution.

 

[finaddictfred]

Just watched a show last night and the name of it was "killer Algae" it was all about this same exact plant and how bad it really is. Do a GIS and check out how invasive and destructive this junk is and then do what ever you have to to destroy it.
Fred

 

[fishinchick]

I had taxifolia growing in my sump. It had a lot of life on it. Nothing eats it, this is true. Nothing eats a LOT of the caulerpas out there. That's why it reaches epic proportions.

If you had to have it growing in your sump vs your display which would you pick?

The only way to successfully get rid of caulerpa is to clean it out by hand consistently. Spend a little time every day removing them by the roots - use tweezers if you gotta. But keep up after it.

 

[jmeader]

I have almost always gone out of my way to get caulerpa into my systems as soon as possible. I've used it with great success in keeping my nitrates low. If it grows at all, you have elevated nitrate levels, those levels being above undetectable. I like it for the other toxins it takes out of the system as well like heavy metals. You just have to keep harvesting it which is exporting those previously mentioned toxins.