Caulerpa taking over my tank! Help!

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nicolebrzu

Member
When I set up my tank back in October, one of my pieces of live rock had a small bit of Caulerpa on it. There are now patches of it on almost every rock! I try to keep it trimmed back and try to catch loose fragments floating around, but still it spreads! I pull off as much as I can about once a month. This stuff is awful! I thought it was so pretty at first... now I hate it.
Any tricks on removing it??!?! :flaming:
 
GlassMunky

GlassMunky

Active Member
If its in your DT, your probably not going to be able to get rid of it........ Do you have a fuge where you could grow some macro, including that culerpa?
 
DesertOrchid

DesertOrchid

Active Member
A yellow tang will eat it including the roots. Had the same problem in my 70 DT and there wasn't a root left after a few weeks. Never did come back.
 
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nicolebrzu

Member
I have a 20 gallon sump I could put it in... but its unlit. I have a small in-tank fuge in the display, but I think it would quickly overgrow that.

My display is only 40 gallons... too small for a tang. Do you think it would be okay if I bought one to keep for only a couple weeks to eat it and then trade it back in?
Would an emerald crab eat Caulerpa?? Or any other inverts?
 
DesertOrchid

DesertOrchid

Active Member
I like caulerpa but one of the problems besides overgrowth is when it uses up all the nutrients and dies out leaving a murky milky mess. Then it comes back from the roots so chaeto in the sump imo is a much better idea. The tang police might get after me but I think as a 'temporary' situation a smaller yellow tang would thrive and help take care of that caulerpa. It might take a while to do but they eat it up fast once they discover the taste for it. Don't get attached to it though.....tangs have the greatest personality but the 40 really is too small for a long time situation. What better excuse to get a bigger tank than your fishy friends need a bigger home! :)
 
DesertOrchid

DesertOrchid

Active Member
Missed the crab question..............emerald crabs do a fair job on hair algae but I've never seen mine even touch the caulerpa other than to walk through it to the next patch of turf algae LOL! My turbos ate some of the roots every now and then but nothing reliable and they were not worth the hassle of having bulldozers in the tank. Some one else might have some good suggestions on other inverts that might help out.............Anyone??!!
 
coralmadness

coralmadness

Member
Maybe try to get a small tang, or a fox face and then trade it out once it starts getting bigger. Emerald crabs do eat certain species of caulerpa, but I dont think an emerald crab is gonna fix your problem.
 
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nicolebrzu

Member
Thanks for the help! I think I might ask my fave LFS is they would let me get a tang and trade it for something else later.
OR.... if I got a small one... how long would it last in a 40 gallon before I needed a bigger tank :)

Today I took the main caulerpa rock out and put it in a bucket where I pulled as much off as possible and scraped at the roots with a knife to try to pry them off. Hopefully this will keep it under control for a few weeks at least.
 
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