Calupera Control

[aveda6]

Hello,

I inadvertently added Calupera to my display tank (the kind that has long strings and "bubbles" on the stems) and now I cannot get it under control. The roots are incredibly tough and wrap up in every opening within my live rock. I've been trying to keep it under control by removing portions at every water change but I can't seem to stay ahead of it.

Is there anything to be done to control this? I have it in my refugium and it's fine in there but I cannot get all of the strands out of the rock to eliminate from the DT. I don't think it's an issue but visually I don't like how it looks.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[FishyReef]

Like any algae, it feeds on nitrates and phosphates. If you keep those under control it won't grow as quickly! Some urchins also eat macro algae but its not a sure thing. Your tank is too small for a tang that would eat it. I think your best bet is to try to starve it out of nutrients along with pulling out strands.

 

[aveda6]

Fishy...Thank you. I will try and cut back on feeding and see if I can lower the nitrates a bit. They are low but not zero so that may be part of the issue. I feed a cube of frozen mysis (or similar) every other day but I'll cut back to one every three days and see how that goes. Sometimes I have nitrate pockets in my chiller but I've cleaned that out so hopefully that's not an issue.

 

[2XAl]

a full cube seems like a lot to me, especially for whatever you can fit in a 29- what do you have for livestock. I feed my 90 a half cube every other day.

 

[FishyReef]

How often are you doing water changes, and are you using ro/di water for your changes? I've found that it is a combination of phosphates and nitrates, part of which comes from food, but there are also other sources. What are your nitrate levels?

 

[RockStacker]

Once caulerpa establishes holdfasts in the tank (the rootlike appendages), it is almost impossible to physically remove all of them. Even a small fragment can regrow if given the right conditions.
The only thing you can do is a regimen of removing whatever you can, in combination with keeping the tank nutrients low so that you consistently starve it. Hopefully it eventually dies off.
For larger tanks, most tangs will eat caulerpa. But I'm not sure you can put one in your tank.

My sig has a link to additional caulerpa information if you are interested.