Why "No" to Macroalgae in Display Tank

[NanoNewbie]

I have caulerpa in my 14gal BioCube and i cant get rid of it! It has spread to my 29gal on some star polyp frags i put in.trying to eradicate it before it becomes problem in that tank too. I may have to get rid of the live rock and sand and start over. Anyone know how to kill it with out killing the live rock? lol
Im also from west coast. Im in Calif now used to live up near Seattle

[framerguy]

Originally Posted by NanoNewbie

I have caulerpa in my 14gal BioCube and i cant get rid of it! It has spread to my 29gal on some star polyp frags i put in.trying to eradicate it before it becomes problem in that tank too. I may have to get rid of the live rock and sand and start over. Anyone know how to kill it with out killing the live rock? lol

Pull it out by hand and keep at it until it is gone. It didn't get there overnight and will take longer to get rid of. Either that, or borrow a herbivore from someone to eat it then return the fish.

[krazykat]

Originally Posted by sambrinar

btw I am from AZ, so not everyone is from the East side... there are a few of us out here.

Cool!

[krazykat]

Originally Posted by NanoNewbie

Im also from west coast. Im in Calif now used to live up near Seattle

That's great nanonewbie! I like your handle! Whereabouts in the Puget Sound Area did you use to live?

[SubRosa]

If you set the light timer to give you an 18 hr long day caulerpa won't go sexual on you. Personally if the tank contained corals it wouldn't be worth it to me, but if you wanted a tank of nothing but macros why not? It probably wouldn't be any worse to maintain than an all out FW plant tank.

John

[krazykat]

Originally Posted by BigJay

I just ordered 5 or 6 different macros from John and everything except the chaeto is going in the DT. I personally think it looks more natural with macros and some macros rival the beauty of corals, like the pink galaxies.
Great way to fill in dead spots between corals and rocks. Also some are a great food source for just about everything in the tank except for purely carnivorous fish.
But its definetly a personal preference and one more thing to maintain.

Can you post pictures of your tank with the macros if you already got them in your DT? Thanks!

[BigJay]

holy macros batman

thats before I placed them around the tank. I plan on adding quite a few more.

[krazykat]

Nice tank BigJay!

[NanoNewbie]

I used to live in Kent in south King County My son lives in Maple Valley

[reefmasta]

i use macro algae as my biofilter. i do a 25% water change once a year with alll my tanks. and i set my new system up 8 months ago and nitrates are STILL undetectable. all my macro grows at unbelevable fast paste and when it gets to much a prune most of it out and bring it to the LFS and get money for it =) so its my way to win. save time/effort/money AND gain money by selling it back to the LFS. anyone else relate? haha. no reason should you be a slave to your hobbie.

[everwater]

i think caulerpa gets a bad rap....i know the grape(racemosa) is known to go sexual but some of the others are really stable.
probably my favorite is c. prolifera...looks great in the display tank and i have never had it go sexual. still a possible tang food.
rhodophytom....is a red fern like algae that is usually too tough for most tangs to eat.....no always available in the hobby but a great deco algae.

[BigJay]

if you can prune it theres no reason not to have it. Its the people that let it go for months on end that have problems with it. Alot of the species are very hardy , fast growers and good nutrient exporters beyond looking good. Just gotta get in there often and prune. The real downside to it is if a day comes that you decide you don't want it , it can be a pain to rid your tank of it completely.