suggestions needed for batophora control

[ol'dude]

I'm having a bit of trouble controlling batophora in a 20 gallon nano reef (no fish). Would like to know what invert will actually eat this stuff. Manual removal tends to make matters worse due to fragging. I have cerith and margarita snails and couple of red leg hermits that won't touch the stuff. Any suggestions?

 

[slowECUdiver]

well, since there's no fish, would it be possible for you to do a black out period for a week while running a phosphate sponge? i did some searching on Algaebase.org for batophora but couldn't get any images...only descriptions of the plant and no suggestions for predators...

if you have a spare turbo snail, i'd say let him have a wack at eating that stuff...mine tends to eat anything green in the tank.

 

[ol'dude]

A black out will not do it. I fought this stuff about 5 yrs ago and the only herbivore that would touch it was an urchin that would only nibble on it at best (he did eventually complete the job but it took months). My problem with an urchin this time is the coral and rock arrangement that he would surely rearrange, as would a large turbo.

I may also be hard headed about chemical remedies such as a phosphate sponge but this is truly a closed system. I feed it once a year and partial it maybe 3 times a year (I know I'm gonna get bashed for this). I may use carbon every other month (depending on DOC) since there is a variety of hard & soft corals.

I'm hoping that someone may have found a magic nudi or small crab or snail that loves this stuff before I have to wreck the arrangement with a more clumbsy beast.

Thanks for the suggestion!