Help id!!

[mpiton62]

Can someone help ID what I pulled off my live rock?

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Caulerpa racesmosa. It's very invasive.

 

[iced98lx]

maximum extermination suggested.

do not mess around with that in your DT imho it can take over your entire tank

 

[billsreef]

the race part of racemosa is rather appropriate, it's the fasted growing Caulerpa species I've seen. Rip it out with extreme prejudice, unless your goal is growing Caulerpa

 

[sbreefer]

yikes. this is the primary macro in my fuge.. been picking about 4 cups every few weeks...
Tangs love it...

 

[sunny d polyp]

lucky...

lucky...

My Tangs won't touch it.

 

[sean357]

Caulpera is dangerous but this stuff is double dangerous. Beyond the aggressive growth if Caulpera goes sexual you are going to have a mess to clean up (If you catch it in time). Start removing it now and maybe you can keep it in check and not have to tear your tank apart (Sorry that sounds so negative)

 

[Spyderturbo007]

if Caulpera goes sexual you are going to have a mess to clean up (If you catch it in time).

Could you expand on what "going sexual" means with regards to algae? I've read this before, but haven't found any explanation.

 

[gt1009]

Most algae, such as caulerpa, has a life cycle that involves asexual and sexual reproduction. If the algae starts reproducing sexually, the spores will spread to all corners of your tank. I'm not sure what the sexual phase of this plant looks like, but sometimes it can be much different from the asexual phase and be hard to spot until it begins growing asexually again.