How much Caluerpa is too much before it goes sexual?

[MikeyBoy]

I have a very big elevated gravity fed refugium (135gallon), and this thing is full of Chaeto and the Grape Caluerpa is really getting going in there.


So the questions becomes, how much is too much?

I have heard of it going Sexual and causing havoc in systems.

With such a large fuge over a 215gallon tank, it would appear to be a dangereous situation of of these days!

Think so or not?

Please advise.
Mike

[::pete::]

A hand full is too much ... :P

[MikeyBoy]

Well, I am way ahead of that!!!


Thanks for being so specific there Pete.........

[Richard]

I'm with Pete, I think. Lose the caulerpa IMO.

[MikeyBoy]

Wow, that is going to be a bunch of cleaning.
And it doesn't come off that well.


Anybody have a BIG tang they want to loan me????? lol

[NaCl_H2O]

Mike, as you know I have tons of it in my fuge, some does go asexual (white/transparent) but most does not. I keep it pruned back pretty good most of the time. When you prune it, devisatet it ... yank out anything you can get your hand around - then it will grow like crazy and export nutrients with it :D

[::pete::]

It took me over a year to get rid of that crap!!!

[Chris]

Foxface Rabbitfish work really well removing that stuff. ;)

[::pete::]

Hands work well too, but if you miss a piece ... ;)

[MikeyBoy]

well, I was just in there pruing the hell out of it and then if dawned on me.
As well as hand pruning, I can take rock by rock, day by day and intro it to the main tank.
I just placed a rock in there and BOOOOM, it was all gone.

The tangs went at it like it was Christmas Candy!!
I think I am just going to keep working at it manually and use the fish to help clean the rocks.
Maybe even drop some of the rocks into the fuge down below where there is no light.....maybe that will help.

I Should not have let it get this much in there, at one time, I was 100% Chaetomorpha.

Oh, and your right, my Foxface is a PIG on this stuff.

[::pete::]

Hey ... drop the lil rock in the solution we used at Steve's yesterday> I bet it will all be gone ... lol.

[NaCl_H2O]

Hey ... drop the lil rock in the solution we used at Steve's yesterday> I bet it will all be gone ... lol.

Yea, and the rock too :huh

[::pete::]

LOL ... who cares!!

[Richard]

Maybe even drop some of the rocks into the fuge down below where there is no light.....maybe that will help.


That probably won't work too well. I had caulerpa, sargassum an several other algaes sprout off of my liverock after it had cured 4 months in a covered trashcan.

[::pete::]

Lack of light helps to kill it, but if the water has what it needs it will survive and once those rocks are introduced back into the sytem it will thrive.

[MikeyBoy]

bummer, I am just going to prune the heck out by hand and then let the tangs clean the rocks and stay on top of it for a while.


No seaweed, just caulerpa for the tangs for a few days!!!

[brewercm]

I did it the same way in my last tank. I took the rocks out and picked as much off the rocks with a pair of small needle nose pliers. I could reach down into the rocks and get the runners as much as possible that way. Let the tangs have the rest and decided on the new tank fuge no caulerpa. Now all I have is cheato and some sort of long blade algae, also wanting to put a little bit of xenia in there.