Caulerpa racemosa removal

CloudReefer · Thursday at 6:54 PM

Hi all, I have some Caulerpa racemosa growing on a rock in my tank. It's the second rock I've found it on. The first rock I put into my dark sump and left it there permanently, so am hoping that batch eventually dies.

This second rock is a bit harder to get rid of. My goby and shrimp call it home and won't go anywhere else in the tank. The goby can't leave the rock or my clowns will literally try to rip it apart. It also has a nice sponge growing on it.

I have a 2'x3' footprint 75g tank, so no tangs or a foxface. Are there any other biological options for removal before I go ham and pull the whole rock? I might be able to soak the side with the algae in h202 without affecting the sponge - will that get down into the cracks of the rock and kill all traces do you think? What about taking a blowtorch to it?

Thanks!

sixty_reefer · Thursday at 7:03 PM

You should be able to remove it by pulling the rhizome, anything left hydrogen peroxide on small doses with a syringe should do the trick.

KrisReef · Thursday at 7:10 PM

I would pull the rock, any rock it shows up on and take that out of the tank. I had a rock with zoa's on it that after a year in my tank decided to sprout Caulerpa. I carefully scraped it off and a year later it popped up again. I did not use hydrogen peroxide, and I think the rock needs to be above water to apply peroxide?

I had a tank many years earlier that had Caulerpa in it. It just grows to fast for me to try and keep up with. Good luck.

CloudReefer · Thursday at 7:13 PM

I've currently only got it in a small place on one rock. None of the runners have gone far enough to touch another rock yet. I don't mind if it starts coming back in a year. lol

So pulling the rock out, taking tweezers to the plant and then soaking the area in h202 would be my best bet?

What about urchins? Or emerald crabs? I've heard they might eat it.

KrisReef · Thursday at 7:15 PM

If they chew it in two they might spread it. Yank, scrape, splash, rinse replace.

CloudReefer · Thursday at 7:24 PM

KrisReef said:
If they chew it in two they might spread it. Yank, scrape, splash, rinse replace.

lol

So basically, if I don't have something that can eat enough of it to keep the growth in check (foxface, tang) then my only option is elbow grease eh?

taricha · Friday at 6:09 PM

CloudReefer said:
So basically, if I don't have something that can eat enough of it to keep the growth in check (foxface, tang) then my only option is elbow grease eh?

You are the primary herbivore controlling your tank algae, until you get somebody else to do part of that job for you.