Local New York seaweed in old reef

[Paul B]

Some local New York seaweed in my reef. I will take it out in a week or so before it starts to die. The tangs love it.
Paul

 

[olemos]

have you tried any of local seaweed in the fuge?

 

[billsreef]

That enteromorpha is some tasty algae. It can grow well under strong lighting. However it is a lousy shipper, gets very pungent after a day in a bag :eek1:

 

[Paul B]

Bill, I know what you mean about being in a bag. I just dumped out a load of it. I even used to feed this stuff in my fresh water days in the sixtees. Great stuff and very common. I was out trying to get codium but there was none around so I grabbed a bunch of this.
Olemos, I don't have a fuge but I used codium last year and it was great, the only problem was that the snails eat it.
Paul

 

[Paul B]

I like the way it looks though.
Paul

 

[larrylwill]

I have the same stuff and its taking over my tank, it sticks to the rock. How can I get rid of it?

thanks

 

[Paul B]

larrylwill, you have hair algae, not this algae. This stuff will not take over the tank and the fish love to eat it. It is a local New York seaweed that does not live too long in a reef tank. The darker green on the center rocks in the picture is what you have. For your problem look up hair algae. You will find a ton of stuff and lots of remedies, none of which work very well but it comes mainly from too much organics. I have some in this tank because I dump all sorts of local animals and mud in there as an experiment. When I clean it up and do some water changes It goes away but reluctantly.
Paul
Paul

 

[larrylwill]

Paul: Thanks for your answer however I don't that its hair algie. My tank is more than 9 years old and I have been through that befor. This came only after I started a refiugem and at the same time as the red grass started. I have no phosphates in my tank and only feed once a week and use RO water. This looks likes little feathers. itook some pictures. The refiugem was started with some red and green grass that I got from a friend, who ordered it. This has excaped from the refiugem. The color is really bright green when it gets started in a new place.

[IMG]http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/358006.JPG[/IMG]

 

[coralnut99]

Looks like bryopsis to me. Very stubborn, invasive stuff. Some tangs will deal with it, as will green lettuce nudibranchs. As with most nudi's though they are very food specific, and will probably starve just befor ethey finish the job, leaving enough to restart growth. If the rock isn't too big, think about taking it out and scrubbing it off, and rinsing well.

 

[larrylwill]

Thats what I was thinking however it has spread into my soft corals and Ill loose some. I hate to do that but seems I have no choice.
I posted some better pictures here.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=410952

 

[coralnut99]

Yup, no question in my mind. Bryopsis. I think most others will concur.

I absolutely hate the thought of "throw-away" species. That is those you use to try to eradicate a problem, and eventually starve, once the job is done, or close to it. That's the case with lettuce nudi's. Maybe you can rent a Kole tang from your lfs?

I had a small patch of this stuff for a short time. Once I found out what it was and how fast it was growing, I was pretty persistent about getting rid of it. I can be pretty precise and thorough with a pair of long tweezers now, as a result. If you get it down to a manageable level, macros usually wind up out-competing it, if you have a refugium.

I'd bet there are some creative solutions folks here on RC have.

 

[larrylwill]

no LFS = 65 miles, Ill have to sacrufice the soft corals and scrub the rock. Its into the grass and many rocks, just a little peice and it attaches and cant be pulled off without breaking it.

thanks

 

[coralnut99]

wow! you live in a lfs desert too.

Sounds like you have it really bad. I'd be a little more persistent, before sacrificing corals. But that's just me. Try the RC archives under bryopsis. That may help, before you go scrubbing corals off your rock. Just so you know, loads of websites carry lettuce nudi's at around $6 apiece.

 

[larrylwill]

I need to make an order of snail, crabs and a few fish, do you really think some nudis can take care of this? How many would you buy?
The last ones I had got sucked into the sump or fell into an anemone. This time Ill have to make a screen to keep them out.

 

[coralnut99]

larrywill, since we've pretty much hijacked this thread, I pm'd ya.

 

[Paul B]

LarryIwill, Lettuce slugs eat nothing but bryopsis. I have been breeding them since Dec and I have about twenty left since I sold most of them to a researcher. If you get a few large ones for about $6.00 they may spawn and give you hundreds. You have to put foam on any filter intakes or you will have slug sushi. They do not really eat bryopsis but they suck the "juice" out and incorporate the chloroplasts into their own tissue so that they can then live on light like a coral. Here is one of mine that I raised.
Paul

 

[larrylwill]

thanks for all your help, now to find some. Saltwater fish is out.

 

[coralnut99]

Try www.reeftopia.com looks like they have them in stock for $7, their shipping rates are hard to beat, and they are relatively local to you.

 

[larrylwill]

I cant find an address on their web site. Where are they?

 

[coralnut99]

I guess I should've defined local. They are in Fla. , and are divers / distributors. When I stressed local, I was stressing the fact that you shouldn't have to worry about a package that gets stuck at the airport and stuff. Something I always worry about when ordering livestock in temperature extremes. But prices and shipping can't be beat really.