Help me rid myself of this pestilence!!!!!! Feather caulerpa, what eats it?

[Phiche Master]

Alright, I have this rock right it has a dark red branching plant, Ive seen refered to as red dreadlock and branching red caulerpa, growing out of it....the hole rest of the rock was covered in this vibrant green grass type of plant that I have never seen any one else with...Id post a pic but that is kinda what this is about. About 6-7 months ago my new system 30 M 10 F 10 S had a pod explosion...all of a sudden just tons o pods everywhere....then I noticed what I initially thought to be hair algae growing from the rock....It grew and grew and grew and is spreading to other rocks. It is darker green in color, I use to have feather caulerpa, but it was a brighter more vibrant color and grew in a kinda stalk and leaf way...vs. this stuff which is tons o little feathers. I pulled every bit out of the rock, the soft brighter green stuff was still ok but the red had suffered...2 weeks later the stuff came back worse than b4...Do you guys know what is? what will eat it? I cant get a good pic of it cuz it is dark and thin just looks like a dark green blob on the cam. I have Reg legs Blue legs astreas and ceriths and they couldnt care less...but the pods seem to crawling all over it...Hell I even saw some crazy worm (not a bristle worm, which look like a centipede) that was clear and looked like a millipede with a head like a bullet train..! Crazyness....anyway PLEASE HELP!!! What should I stick in there? Emerald, Sally? what? I mean I want erradication but Its growing out of a rock ( more like 4 now ) that has two other plants that I really like on it....am I screwed?

 

[sjvl51]

A long spined, black urchin might help. Be prepared to find a new home after as this urchin can grow to the size of a basketball.

Vickie

 

[hmott]

I would try turbo snails first, they eat just about any algae.

 

[Phiche Master]

I have astrea turbo snails...they conpletely ingnore the rock.....Are the long spined urchins reef safe?

 

[TN_sledge]

Re: Help me rid myself of this pestilence!!!!!! Feather caulerpa, what eats it?

I use to have feather caulerpa, but it was a brighter more vibrant color and grew in a kinda stalk and leaf way...vs. this stuff which is tons o little feathers.

From your description sounds like Bryopsis.
Check out the pic in this link.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=167632

 

[Phiche Master]

TN your the man!!!! preciate ya....still dunno what Im gunna do.......but at least I am smarter! I think a long spined urchin sounds good, are they reef safe, I reiterate.

 

[sjvl51]

I haven't had any issues with my diadema (sp) urchin (long spined) and my corals other than knocking over some that were not attached.

Vickie

 

[TN_sledge]

No problem, I like to help when I can. When this first appeared in my tank I did some quick reading and decided it would be better just to pull the rock out is was on. So far no reoccurrences. Itââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s some real nasty stuff. Doesnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t sound like this is an option for you.

 

[Phiche Master]

again thanks for the info....now I just need to find a diadema...and no removal isnt really an option...especially since in has spread to a mushroom/sponge/clam rock and a zoo rock

 

[lmsrch]

i am putting some decorative algae in my tank will turbo snails hurt it.......

i thought they only ate the hairy stuff but i see here that you posted it as a problem solver

 

[sjvl51]

Imsrch, it would depend upon what your decorative algae is. Do you have any idea of the name or can you describe it?

Vickie

 

[piercho]

IME Diadema urchins (long spined urchins) will graze most plants that they encounter, but definately not all. They are rugged grazers and will graze the rock completely bare, down through the coraline into the white calcium carbonate. They can occasionally graze the edges of stony coral, but IME don't do much damage.

They are great grazers, IMO. They are especially effective at controlling the wiry red algae that slowly spreads across rock. However, they are definately not for people who value coraline, or are trying to establish seagrass or sandbed macroalgaes in their tanks. They grow relatively quickly.

 

[hmott]

lmsrch

besides dozens of varieties of macro I've heard of mexican turbo's eating here on RC, I personally have seen them eat:

ulva
prolifera
gracillia
batryocalvia
razor caulerpa
racemosa
red bristle pad type algae


The 4 golfball sized turbos ate almost a full qt. of razor caulerpa and 1/2 qt of ulva in two nights. I was buying macro's for my sh tank and they kept disapearing, I would remove a few possible algae eaters and it took me almost two weeks to finally see a turbo eating some razor like it was spagetti, setting in one place while "sucking" the razor up. It was eating probably an inch every 10 seconds, amazing really. They are now gone from my tank and I tell everyone who has a macro problem to try them, I know they like a lot of different macro's, and of course micro's as well.