Caulerpa verticillata

slevesque

New member
Hi, I found very little info about the algae Caulerpa verticillata. I remove it by hand but it always comes back. Sometimes I get tired and let it grow for a month.

link

I tried an emerald crab he doen't seem interested. The is a study saying the juvenile lettuce nudibranch feeds on it.

Maybe it's time for a bucket, a brush and some tweezer again.
 
The particular specie of Caulerpa you say you have does not have a reputation for being invasive in reef tanks, so I'd expect that there are common grazers that will go after it. Foxface rabbitfish is one of the more likely candidates to graze Caulerpa IME. However, some Caulerpa are chemically well defended and IME there are some specie of Caulerpa a Foxface won't graze. Some Acanthurus tangs like A. japonica might also graze it. I've heard of some individual dwarf angels that will graze some types of Caulerpa, its probably more hit than miss though IMO. IME there is a low likelyhood that Tuxedo or Diadema urchins will graze Caulerpa, at least they didn't graze any of the three specie of Caulerpa in my tank. There are sea slugs that target siphonous green algae like Caulerpa and Bryopsis. There are even sea slugs that target specific specie of Caulerpa. I don't know much about them. I do know that Lettuce Sea Slugs do not actively graze for their whole adult life stage, and the ones I tried were not active grazers of Caulerpa or much of anything else, they just wandered around the tank until they disappeared. A sea hare might be a better choice, I've never tried one. As far as crabs, snails, or blennies; I really doubt any of these will graze any type of Caulerpa.

I dealt with Caulerpa peltata which is a very hard Caulerpa to get rid of by hand removal and attempts to limit its nutrient sources. But I never got rid of it altogether. And Caulerpas spread readily by fragmentation, so any little floating bit left behind after hand removal can allow it to pop up in a new place.
 
The affected rocks are in a 4'x1'x1' tank so a Foxface rabbitfish is kind of out of question. Unless I can "rent" a young one and bring it back to the lfs when the job is done. Same for the tangs.

A dwarf angel is possible. I will look into it.

I'll look into the sea hare option. I've been curious about them for a while.

Thanks for the suggestions.
 
I too have a bad caulerpa verticillata infestation in my old 75 reef tank. it is very difficult to rid of. I have not found anything that will eat it fast enough to wipe it out. the problem is it is very fine, and has so many hold fasts that get into every rock crack. you just cant pull or scrub it all out.

I had rid the tank of it once by starving it out. it had covered every rock, about an inch deep. I had a satellite fuge about half the size of the tank with a southdown DSB and full of prolifera, and taxifolia and razor algea. over time the fuge out competed the verticillata for food and it starved out and disappeared. it was all clear for a while until i foolishly moved a frag from another small infested tank to the reef. I thought it was clean, but not.

so this time I am thinking of a more aggressive Sea grass fuge to fight it again. I have had some success by growing balls of cheato in the tank. but cant seem to drive it out. so perhaps another DSB fuge with shoal grass and turtle grass. Thats my next experiment.

the other way is remove the rock, pick and brush as much off as possible and rinse in clean water. then drop in a black plastic trash can of SW with air stone and heater, cover with a lid to keep all light out and cure for a month or two. until the greenery all dies off. I have been doing that too to rid persistant taxifolia holdfasts on a tank full of rubble rock i use for frags. the rock will stay alive as well as sponges, stars and critters.

picking at it only spreads it more. every little piece that floats away starts a new plant. as well as holdfasts.
 
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