Is there any alternative??? Caulerpa help!

[joe_shmo]

So I have a 15 gallon nano which I gave to my brother for year to take care of because I couldn't. During that time several of the rocks developed patches of caulerpa (or at least what i can only guess is caulerpa).

I have now had the tank back for about a month however even though I've been able to get the nutrient levels all back to zero the caulerpa is still thriving under my metal halide lighting.

here's a picture

I want to completely irradicate this pestful algae but I only know one way to make sure I get rid of all of it.

I would take all the rock in my display, scrub all the algae I could off of the rocks, then place the rocks in a closed rubbermaid container which is plumbed inline with the tank so as to continue being the major source of filtration, yet also being completely cut off from light so as to kill any photosynthetic creatures in or on the rock. I would then siphon out the entire sand bed and fill the tank with random PVC so as to create a artificial reef setting for the fish, corals, and anemone. Once the rock has "cooked" long enough I would put a new sand bed in and replace the rock.

Clearly, this would be alot of work; Which is why I am posting to see if there is any alternative to this course of action.

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can provide.

Here's another picture where you can see all the algae in the background.

 

[adtravels]

keep pulling it out manually, change water,
keep pulling it out manually, change water,
keep pulling it out manually, change water,

it will go soon enough

 

[rcypert]

put something in there that eats it. Try a tuxedo urchin. Maybe a lawnmower blenny.

 

[3D-Reef]

Looks like the dreaded Bryposis. You can raise the Alk and or the Mag.There are several threads on it just do a search.

 

[Triterium]

In addition to the great suggestions above, you could try a few turbo snails.

Also try adding more hermits and astrea snails.

 

[ClamIAm]

It's definitely not caulerpa. How long have the nutrient levels been at zero? If it isn't very long, you may notice the algae start disappearing the longer it has no nutrients.

 

[joe_shmo]

I already have a tuxedo urchin and it doesn't touch the stuff.

So it's not caulerpa huh? I didn't think it looked like any species of it but my LFS assured me it was. (How could I be so gullible?!)

It actually appears to be yellowing, and thinning in some areas so perhaps not having any nutrients is finally starting to take its toll on the pest!