Macroalgae causing a morph

[Dana42078]

I put some caulerpa in my mantis tank to suck up some red slime. Yea....wrong move..i know....now its been wrapped up in my watermelons for like idk 4 months and ive been pruning it whenever i go in. But these watermelons were fine untill the caulerpa got to them. Im digging up some pix now. Is this normal?

Before the macro got to them

After....you can see their centers are all mixed up now.

Sorry bout the quality...i didnt feel like breaking out the big cam

 

[A. Grandis]

I don't think it's the touch of the Caulerpa.
It must be an environmental change (probably water quality/light).
If the Caulerpa is contributing to that change...
Make sure your water is not yellow. You can use carbon to clear the water, if so.

Check the alk, pH and temp, as aways.

Your tank is very "blue". You probably need more "white". Bright color morphs need the spectrum closer to the shallow water (6.500K - 10.000K).

Grandis.

 

[Dana42078]

I'm running a purple plus and blue plus on my 20g mantis tank. Params last time I checked were normalish...ph 8.2.... Salinity 1.024....cal 420 ppm, alk 8dkh,mag 1440 everything else reads 0.....I assume I have a lil phos problem but it doesn't show on the API test....it's kinda difficult to keep the levels normal in a mantis tank....but seriously they didn't change until the macro engulfed the colony.

 

[A. Grandis]

Well, again, I don't think the touch of the algae could do that to all of it, but...

Why don't you try to remove all the algae from it first and go from there?

They should be able to react some how.
The longer you allow the change to take place, the harder will be to come back to normal.

If that doesn't work, I would try to change the Purple Plus to an Aqua Blue Special.
Don't wait too long!

Remember: the last picture shows the same type of zoa with the color change. There is no algae touching it.

Make sure they have good water flow.

Grandis.

 

[Dana42078]

Ive been debating on changing that bulb....getting that macro out is going to e a impossible task. I might have to chop the zoa's off .....this was a bad decision on my part with macro in the DT... I think I'll try chopping the rock and changing the light. Thanks for your input.

 

[A. Grandis]

No problem.
Get tweezers to get to the algae and take your time.
Try not to disturb the zoas too much.

Grandis.

 

[Dana42078]

I've been on a man hunt for plastic tweezers ugh...don't want to use steel or whatever they are made out of...any ideas?

 

[A. Grandis]

Get the stainless steel ones to use in salt water.
They normally sell for coral frag.
You can use any regular clean tweezers for now.
Just rinse off the salt with fresh water and dry very well with a towel.
That's fine!

Grandis.

 

[Dana42078]

I guess your right.....Ty very much..I'll try this on this weekend.

 

[A. Grandis]

Please don't forget to rethink about your light.
I would say that's the most important thing in the long run.
If you change the Purple Plus for an Aqua Blue Special the tank will still have some blue in it.

It would be great to hear from people that have the same type of zoa that you have and see what their experiences are.

Grandis.

 

[Dana42078]

Your right but getting ppl to respond is pulling teeth. In glad you responded as I can see you know what your talking about and that's why I thank you for your input.

 

[A. Grandis]

No problem.
Good luck!

Grandis.