Nuisance Macro Algae

Goldndoodle · 02/23/2014, 09:58 AM

Looks like some macro algae hitchhiked into my tank with a recent purchase ... probably the red flowerpot where it appears to be growing from.

What's the best way to get rid of this? I was going to try to just rip it out by hand, but I don't want to end up scattering pieces of it all of the tank where it might take root and start growing elsewhere / everywhere.

photo.jpg

Almondsaz · 02/23/2014, 10:02 AM

Typically I take the rock/frag that the algae is growing on and take it out of the tank and use some forceps or tweezers to carefully pull out the macro. Caulerpa are especially difficult as they seem to leave tendrils of roots despite your best efforts. If you keep at it you can win the battle against the macro. Hope that helps.

Goldndoodle · 02/23/2014, 10:24 AM

Thanks! It does.

To be honest, I was hoping to avoid having to pull the tank apart to take care of it, but I guess in the back of my mind, I knew the only way to do it was to pull everything apart, and "scrub" the rock.

Almondsaz · 02/23/2014, 11:12 AM

You can try to do it inside the tank, but as you note - try to avoid the potential spread by scraping going all through the water of your tank. I do the same for bubble algae, if you break a bubble in the tank you can have an outbreak. Best of luck and hopefully you don't have to break too much down to get to the caelurpa. by the way, the caelurpa is what I have in my sump and really like it, just not in the display because it takes over so fast.

klwheat · 02/23/2014, 12:46 PM

What do you have on the tank? Some fish love to take care of it for you. After I had an outbreak of caulerpa in my reef, I picked up a small foxface that removed it in 3 days.

Goldndoodle · 02/23/2014, 12:59 PM

The tank is only a 29G Nano Cube, I don't think it would support a Foxface. As for current livestock - a mismatched pair of Ocellaris Clowns, a chromis and a Firefish. Assorted snails, assorted hermit crabs, an emerald crab, a cleaner shrimp and a pep shrimp.

Luckily the 3 rocks that were "infected" were at the top of the tank. I only had to move a toadstool and the red flowerpot. While removing the macro from the rock went fairly easy - it was the 30 minutes of trying to get the rocks back to the exact place so the corals were sitting just right that gets to be a chore. Actually ended up switching the placement of the flowerpot and the toadstool, but I think it looks better as the flowerpot was bigger / taller and looks better behind the toadstool.

02/23/2014, 09:58 AM	#1
Goldndoodle Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Monroe MI Posts: 576	Nuisance Macro Algae Looks like some macro algae hitchhiked into my tank with a recent purchase ... probably the red flowerpot where it appears to be growing from. What's the best way to get rid of this? I was going to try to just rip it out by hand, but I don't want to end up scattering pieces of it all of the tank where it might take root and start growing elsewhere / everywhere. photo.jpg

02/23/2014, 12:46 PM	#5
klwheat Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 676	What do you have on the tank? Some fish love to take care of it for you. After I had an outbreak of caulerpa in my reef, I picked up a small foxface that removed it in 3 days. __________________ 180 Gallon Mixed reef President/Co-founder Running4Trisomy A Butterfly's Touch

02/23/2014, 10:02 AM	#2
Almondsaz Premium Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: OP, Ks Posts: 617	Typically I take the rock/frag that the algae is growing on and take it out of the tank and use some forceps or tweezers to carefully pull out the macro. Caulerpa are especially difficult as they seem to leave tendrils of roots despite your best efforts. If you keep at it you can win the battle against the macro. Hope that helps.

02/23/2014, 10:24 AM	#3
Goldndoodle Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Monroe MI Posts: 576	Thanks! It does. To be honest, I was hoping to avoid having to pull the tank apart to take care of it, but I guess in the back of my mind, I knew the only way to do it was to pull everything apart, and "scrub" the rock.

02/23/2014, 11:12 AM	#4
Almondsaz Premium Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: OP, Ks Posts: 617	You can try to do it inside the tank, but as you note - try to avoid the potential spread by scraping going all through the water of your tank. I do the same for bubble algae, if you break a bubble in the tank you can have an outbreak. Best of luck and hopefully you don't have to break too much down to get to the caelurpa. by the way, the caelurpa is what I have in my sump and really like it, just not in the display because it takes over so fast.

02/23/2014, 12:59 PM	#6
Goldndoodle Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Monroe MI Posts: 576	The tank is only a 29G Nano Cube, I don't think it would support a Foxface. As for current livestock - a mismatched pair of Ocellaris Clowns, a chromis and a Firefish. Assorted snails, assorted hermit crabs, an emerald crab, a cleaner shrimp and a pep shrimp. Luckily the 3 rocks that were "infected" were at the top of the tank. I only had to move a toadstool and the red flowerpot. While removing the macro from the rock went fairly easy - it was the 30 minutes of trying to get the rocks back to the exact place so the corals were sitting just right that gets to be a chore. Actually ended up switching the placement of the flowerpot and the toadstool, but I think it looks better as the flowerpot was bigger / taller and looks better behind the toadstool.