UGH, and here I thought it was pretty

[NMC]

:facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::

In my tank I have about 3/4's BRS reef savor rock and 1/4 live rock from Gulfreefsupply.com. I put the live rock in on 4/26 and the other's been in since
3/22. The tank has cycled and I have added an assortment of snails, but no fish or corals yet. On my live rock I have this very pretty, delicate looking macro algae. It was so pretty, I was happy to see it spreading from rock to rock.

I've been busy with this that and the other and it wasn't until tonight that I got curious as to just what this macro algae was. I found out it's Caulerpa verticillata. I've been reading and reading about how invasive it is and impossible to get rid of. I tried pulling some out, but it's very tenacious like a weed that breaks before you can get the root.

It is on all the live rock, but the BRS rock doesn't seem infested yet, so I pulled out all the live rock and fished around the tank with a kitchen sieve to try to catch all the little bits floating around. I have the rock in a bucket with air and a heater for now, but I think I'm going to have to toss it if this stuff is so invasive. Just in the short time I've had the rock, I've seen it grow and spread substantially.

Couple of questions: Do you think my live rock was in there long enough to seed things? I'm thinking so since the tank cycled, but I'm not sure and the cycle wasn't very dramatic. Everything went up slightly, not dramatically, and went back to zero (amonia, nitrite, nitrate). I have also been feeding the snails since they ate up all the algae (except this one) pretty quickly and haven't had any amonia, nitrite, or nitrate spikes. Do you think the fact that there seems to be absolutely none on the BRS rock means I got it out in time?

I sent a note to reefcleaners.org to see if there is any critter that will reliably eat this stuff and is appropriate for my small tank...even so.....I've seen some posts that indicate Tangs eat this, but that won't do. Seems to me if anything reliably ate this stuff there wouldn't be so many posts about how hard it is to eradicate.

Anyway, off to pick my snails off the live rock and throw them back in the tank.

 

[Dr. Reef]

i wouldnt worry about it yet, ur tank will go through a cycle,, keep lights off during cycle and when parameters hit zero on ammonia and nitrites do a 25% water change then start watching for aglae or add cuc.

 

[NMC]

I was sad to take the rock out. My hitchhiker coral and clam that were doing well are now in the bucket.

 

[NMC]

Here's a pic for other unsuspecting noobs:

 

[NMC]

Further research indicates this is one of the species illegal to ship to California. Just goes to show how unenforceable such laws are.

 

[ken55]

I don't have anything helpful to say other than Bummer! Sorry for the bad luck. I also would have thought it was pretty and cool looking. Thanks for the ID picture.

 

[foxsavage]

Mexican Turbo Snails will eat most macro algae. If you leave the rock in the bucket and put one in there he'll probably take care of it and then you can put the rock back in your main tank once it's gone.

 

[MaxxedMan]

no light in the bucket can't be good for it either

 

[Bowels]

btw.. I had this exact species in my tank and I thought it was super pretty i did everything I could to try and save it but my dolabella sea hare just ate everything green in the tank... couldnt keep a single green thing alive! They dont live terribly long I believe their life expectancy is like 6-8 months, but in those months they will eat all your problem algea... just make sure you give the little bugger a good acclimation time because they are very sensitive to drastic changes. Good luck

 

[SKurj]

I have a similar problem with Razor Caulerpa which it sounds like isn't eaten by much. I pick at it, but it breaks, and now I have it growing in areas deep with the rocks. (Marco rock) When the pieces break it floats around until it gets caught somewhere and it will just grow there.

Not sure what I will do, I have heard zebrasoma tangs may eat it, but my tank is too small for them. Haven't heard of Turbo's eating it. I may have to get a juvie yellow tang and see what happens... (tank is 4ft just its only 40gal)

 

[NMC]

I just decided to remove the rocks that have it on them. Money down the drainpipe, those rocks, but I don't want to still be fighting with this algae 3 years from now. Could find nothing that would definitively keep it in check. Snails and BRS rock will have to just carry on.

 

[philosophile]

Don't throw out the rocks though.... You can still use them once you kill off the algae... Try trying them out, bleach, muriatic acid bath, etc. You'll kill everything on the rock, and make it good to use again... If you have some corals that are attached to the rock, frag them off, and see if you can QT them in a bucket for a week, and see if anything grows again.

 

[heckfire]

i like the look of it,, i wouldnt mind having it in my tank

 

[NMC]

I know! Thought it was nice, just read all these horror stories about how it grows like crazy and can't be kept in check.