Caulerpa algae eating fish

alabrew

New member
Can anyone give me some suggestions?

I bought a Magnificent Foxface (mainly because I really liked the coloration) with the hopes he would eat it but he just won't touch it, nor would a small Sailfin Tang.

I have been harvesting it and putting it in the fuge but am now thinking that that is not the best of ideas.
 
Are you sure it's caulerpa? I've seen Foxfaces and Sailfins tear through the stuff.
If I remember correctly, your best bet is probably going to be a gold scribble rabbit fish. They eat a lot for their size.
I was helping maintain a ~400 gallon tank at a church that was overgrown with caulerpa. I'm talking all over the rocks, corals, glass... it was crazy. I believe we put a unicorn tang in and she wiped it out in less than a month.
Naso tangs will also eat quite a bit.
Oh, foxfaces can eat zoathids. Keep and eye on him.
 
Every now and then people get lucky with a demented fish (usually a tang or a rabbitfish) that will eat the stuff, but there's really no reliable natural control. It's fairly noxious stuff.

To erradicate it, you can take a chisel to every piece of rock and dig it out. Repeat. Repeat. Eventually you'll get it. If that sounds like too much work, you could try taking the caulerpa to the fish store and try to get a fish interested in the stuff.

Alternately - and this is also not a sure thing - you could try a sea hare or a diadema urchin. You might find a specimen interested in it once they get hungry enough.
 
C. Rasemosa is what we would feed our tangs at the LFS I used to work at. We'd take small pieces of liverock and place them in our large tanks with tangs. Everything would chow down on it... yellow tangs, purple tangs, naso, hippos, koles', sailfins, unicorns.

I had a Kole's tang in my 46 gallon that devastated my grape caulerpa.

It was extremely rare when we got a tang in that wouldn't eat that type of caulerpa.
 
I have a Yellow Tang, Naso Tang, and Sailfin. They all tear up Caulerpa. Once a week I take some out of the fuge and they go to town.
 
So has anyone seen any good looking tangs at their LFS. I have no problems traveling for a good fish. Was thinking of heading to Athens on Sun. as a mater of fact but have also gone to Montgomery. Will be going to ATL on Tues. and could find an excuse to go to Chattanooga. Ah, the luxury of being retired =-}
 
I was very impressed with the fish at Aquarium fantasies in Montgomery. I bought a clown tang for $24 and man, he's one awesome fish. Started swimming laps right when I put him in.
Marine and Reef in ATL has some good healthy fish, also. They seemed a bit overpriced for my taste, but they all looked very well.
 
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