Are these Q-Tip Sponges

[Frogmanx82]

They are growing only on old caulerpa leaves. I have several leaves that must have a hundred of them.

 

[HanoverFist]

Get it out of your tank now. It's going sexual. Do a search for "caulerpa sexual" and you'll understand why.

It's important to prune those old leaves with plants that go sexual - among other things. Most just avoid their type (high risk of going sexual) altogether and use chaeto (very low risk) for nutrient export. Suggest reading up on macros.

Edit: Link for ya

 

[Frogmanx82]

Thanks, its out. I still have caulerpa in there, but all the leaves that were showing signs are out. I had read that caulerpa prolifica rarely went sexual. Will the rest of it do the same thing soon or is it a hit and miss thing? Now that I know what to look for, I should be able to avoid the problem.

They sure did look like what I thought a Q-Tip sponge would look like. I just couldn't track down a picture of a Q-Tip sponge.

 

[HanoverFist]

from the article:

I would suggest removing all the alga, as that individual or "bunch" will go sexual once the gametangia are formed, no matter what one does. Once the nuclei begin subdividing and form gametangia, the thallus, or main body of the alga will release spores and die regardless of what is done. Earlier pruning of the alga may delay or prevent gametangia formation. However, from my experience with the process, it is apparent that it cannot be stopped simply by removing part of the algae, once the gametangia have begun forming.

Sidenote, I believe the deal with caulerpa is that you can lower the chances of it going sexual by running it on a 24 hr light cycle.

 

[Frogmanx82]

I removed the whole "bunch" All the leaves connected to the same stem were going sexual. If I see any other leaves doing that, I'll know to go ahead and pull that bunch rather than pruning.

Thanks for the help.