Macroalgae invasion in DT

[Reefer_Marc]

Hey Guys!

Im having some trouble with Macroalgae in my display tank.
So, it started about a year ago. I just came back from living abroad, and my dad took care of water changes and basic maintenance. There was a lot of algae that i got rid of. It took some months but it eventually worked. Now for almost a year there was this macroalgae growing in my DT. It got better now, but its still a lot. I take out weekly as much as i can, while doing the water change.
I know its not really a problem like other algaes, but for me it just doesnt look that nice, especially because its all over the tank and if i dont pull it out its quickly growing over the corals.
I added some emerald crabs to help fight it, and they do eat it a bit, but not too much.
I also added chaeto in my refugium, which is growing alright. I was hoping it would take up some of the nutrients and help me fight the ones in my DT.

Parameters are:
Temp 25C
Salinity 1.025
Nitrate 8
Phosphate 0.01
Alk 10.4
Magnesium 1400
Calcium 420
pH 8.1

Is there anything else i can try? Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

 

[courtneykeeps]

Looks like Caulerpa brachypus or serrata (probably brachypus) which is very hard to remove once established.

I wonder if you could almost rent an urchin to gobble it all up for you, and then bring the urchin back.

 

[Reefer_Marc]

Looks like Caulerpa brachypus or serrata (probably brachypus) which is very hard to remove once established.

I wonder if you could almost rent an urchin to gobble it all up for you, and then bring the urchin back.

Thanks for the reply!
I will check some more with those names.

I do have an urchin (globulus) which isnt really eating any of the algae. He is just wearing it as a hat and tearing apart my clavularia. Is there another type of urchin maybe thats more effective against it?

 

[Doctorgori]

Yeah that stuff is trouble,, you might have to result to removing the rock and peroxide that thing

 

[Reefer_Marc]

Yeah that stuff is trouble,, you might have to result to removing the rock and peroxide that thing

Well i think that wont work. Its on every rock, and in the sand. Corals are grown onto the rocks, i guess they would not like that treatment, right?

 

[Reefer_Marc]

Yeah that stuff is trouble,, you might have to result to removing the rock and peroxide that thing

Well i think that wont work. Its on every rock, and in the sand. Corals are grown onto the rocks, i guess they would not like that treatment, right?

 

[Doctorgori]

Well i think that wont work. Its on every rock, and in the sand. Corals are grown onto the rocks, i guess they would not like that treatment, right?

Ive done it before: but major PITA.

But most stuff tolerates peroxide: depending…shrimp being not at all and some zoas having a pretty high tolerance …again all depends ….
Your particular tank size and rock work looks “doable” but admittedly peroxide is a last resort thing

 

[Reefer_Marc]

Ive done it before: but major PITA.

But most stuff tolerates peroxide: depending…shrimp being not at all and some zoas having a pretty high tolerance …again all depends ….
Your particular tank size and rock work looks “doable” but admittedly peroxide is a last resort thing

would it be a problem for my anemone, leather and capnella? i guess others i could take off. How would it work? Take out the rocks and take off as much as i can, then scrub with a tooth brush and peroxide? does it need to dry out after or can i add it right back? Will it hurt the bacteria in the rocks? Would it be easier to just replace some of the rocks with new ones?

but before i do this drastic step, is there other things i could try first? another urchin, small foxface or anything? Is it even possible to get it all out again?

 

[Doctorgori]

would it be a problem for my anemone, leather and capnella? i guess others i could take off. How would it work? Take out the rocks and take off as much as i can, then scrub with a tooth brush and peroxide?

While I have done the “Peroxide nuke” thing a few time, there were casualties, especially skunk cleaner and fire shrimp … I cannot in all honesty make a list of what is sensitive or not but if you twist my arm I would generalize by saying LPS and and large mouth “critters” like nems and brains, and zoas did not seem fazed, in fact Ive used it point blank between zoas to remove algae.
However, I did loose some inverts and would exercise extreme caution with shrimp

does it need to dry out after or can i add it right back? Will it hurt the bacteria in the rocks?

No, no need to dry out the rock, in fact you can simply turn off flow and baster it directly underwater…

FWIW there is a way to dry off the rock and kill just the algae while usually “some” of the zoas and corals live, but its semi irresponsible to even suggest it (Basically if you try killing apatasia and pest palys by drying them out: they usually live! LOL) … FWIW many sps can survive exposed for a hour but YMMV and I cant provide exact data

Would it be easier to just replace some of the rocks with new ones?

No, not if you have to re cycle the rock…If it were me I would just surgically apply peroxide and/or get some tweezers and carefully remove every stem and tendril, even if you have to get a light, towel and table and do it outside the tank

but before i do this drastic step, is there other things i could try first? another urchin, small foxface or anything? Is it even possible to get it all out again?

Hopefully you will get additional/better input than mine…Ive never found anything to reliably eat caulerpra, but hopefully someone else has

 

[Reefer_Marc]

Thanks for your answer!

Inverts are not much of a problem in my tank, as i currently dont have any shrimp. Just some snails and hermits, plus the urchin.


I read in another thread that people used Reef Flux to get rid of it, do you have any experience with that?

I think i will try the Reef Flux and the peroxide, if it doesnt help.

Been trying to get rid of it manually for a year, no success. Getting fed up of pulling out buckets full of it every week and looking at an overgrown tank.

 

[Shylo]

Lots of experience with the algaes over 15 years. Biggest piece of advice is to get that stuff out the second you see it. If possible I take whatever it’s attached to out, scrape with brush, spray with peroxide. Ben on ReefBeef said noticing and not doing anything is akin to noticing your home’s drapes on fire and staying on the couch, nice metaphor lol.

Sometimes you end up with something growing on corals that you can’t remove without damaging the corals, but if you let it keep going it will kill the coral. If I think it will be responsive to fluconazole (reef flux), such as if it’s Bryopsis, then I treat with that. If it seems to be something else (I think in your case) I’d probably start with an algaecide (Algae Fix). If I don’t see any response after following label for 6 weeks I switch to the other option.

I’ve only started experimenting with these on my current mixed reef which has been running for some time. It has a derasa clam, montis, acros, lps like frogspawn, gonis, hermits, assorted snails, urchins. Have never seen any of these the least bit stressed by either treatment. I think I have done this 3 times in 6-7 years. The one loss I may have had was a blood red fire shrimp, he had a great hiding spot and I’d usually see him once every couple weeks. I noticed I hadn’t seen him in a while about a months after using AlgaeFix, unsure if it was related.

The tank also seems to do a mini cycle after treatment, diatoms show up for a few weeks. Once the algae and treatments are gone I go coral shopping to get some biodiversity back.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I’d get a fish such as a one spot foxface. I had a caulerpa racemosa problem and it eliminated any visible signs.

 

[courtneykeeps]

Thanks for the reply!
I will check some more with those names.

I do have an urchin (globulus) which isnt really eating any of the algae. He is just wearing it as a hat and tearing apart my clavularia. Is there another type of urchin maybe thats more effective against it?

The ones I had in mind are Tuexdo and Pincushion

 

[JoJosReef]

I would remove as much as possible manually and use Flux Rx (fluconazole) if it were me. When those "runners" get established and "rooted" into the live rock, it's hard to get rid of them. My Caulerpa prolifera was killed completely using Flux Rx (happy side-effect) while I was treating Valonia at 4X the dose used for bryopsis. I just made sure to do as much "beneficial" stuff as possible for the tank while treating: dosing PNS Probio, running an airstone, dosing reef mud, etc.

 

[Reefer_Marc]

Thanks everyone for the replies!

I think what i will do now is check with my LFS if theres any specific algae“counter“ for this caulerpa, if not i will try the Reef Flux, or Flux Rx. I think thats the same thing right?
Still have to check about the dosing, but i will try it out.
If that doesnt work, i will get out all the rocks and scrub them by hand with peroxide. But since that is a lot of work, i wanna try the easier with Flux Rx first, seems a lot of people had success with it.

Reason i dont go for the foxface is, i already checked it before. It will grow too big for my tank, and im not a big fan of just getting a fish for some time and then catching and bringing him back. Extra stress for me and for the fish.

We will see how it goes, i will update here if the Flux works!

 

[goody]

Lots of experience with the algaes over 15 years. Biggest piece of advice is to get that stuff out the second you see it. If possible I take whatever it’s attached to out, scrape with brush, spray with peroxide. Ben on ReefBeef said noticing and not doing anything is akin to noticing your home’s drapes on fire and staying on the couch, nice metaphor lol.

Sometimes you end up with something growing on corals that you can’t remove without damaging the corals, but if you let it keep going it will kill the coral. If I think it will be responsive to fluconazole (reef flux), such as if it’s Bryopsis, then I treat with that. If it seems to be something else (I think in your case) I’d probably start with an algaecide (Algae Fix). If I don’t see any response after following label for 6 weeks I switch to the other option.

I’ve only started experimenting with these on my current mixed reef which has been running for some time. It has a derasa clam, montis, acros, lps like frogspawn, gonis, hermits, assorted snails, urchins. Have never seen any of these the least bit stressed by either treatment. I think I have done this 3 times in 6-7 years. The one loss I may have had was a blood red fire shrimp, he had a great hiding spot and I’d usually see him once every couple weeks. I noticed I hadn’t seen him in a while about a months after using AlgaeFix, unsure if it was related.

The tank also seems to do a mini cycle after treatment, diatoms show up for a few weeks. Once the algae and treatments are gone I go coral shopping to get some biodiversity back.

So I have caulerpa brachypus in my refugium. Would you recommend not keeping it in there? It's been close to a year but no signs of it in my display.

 

[Reefer_Marc]

So I have caulerpa brachypus in my refugium. Would you recommend not keeping it in there? It's been close to a year but no signs of it in my display.

For me it started in my refugium as well (at least i think it did). I think it was coming in together with my chaeto, because it appeared shortly after. Cant get it out anymore. For sure i already removed about 50 kilos of it in the last year.