grape caulerpa

after coming back from vacation i find that this stuff has completely taken over one of my rocks, and spreading to two others. how do i get rid of this? and is this the kind of caulerpa that nukes the tank if it dies? thanks

 

Take your rock out and kill it.

There are some critters that eat it, like tangs.

I don't think it would nuke your tank unless you had insane amounts of it and your electricity went off for a long time.

I've got some, it is a matter of trimming it regularly. I regret adding it.

 

I have found two things to be effective with combating caulerpa:

First and foremost - the lower your nitrates and phosphates are, the less rapidly the caulerpa will grow. One effective way of attaining an "Ultra low" nutrient system is to carbon dose. I have been dosing Vitamin C for over 6 months now on my tanks and will never go back to not doing some form of carbon dosing. My 30 cube had a re-infection of caulerpa after I stopped dosing for a month back in July. Within weeks I had an explosion of caulerpa. After I started dosing again the growth came to a near standstill and with the addition of a few emerald crabs from reefcleaners.org, I was quickly on my way to being caulerpa free.
If it is heavily colonized, you would be well served to remove as much as possible by hand while being careful not to pop the "grapes" themselves as from what I understand they can propagate in the tank in this way. Remember, any littler "runner" will become a whole new plant again, this is why the combined method of hand trimming, carbon dosing to acheive ULNS conditions, as well as the addition of emerald crabs you can really give that weed a run for its money!
Hope this helps!

 

Tang and or foxface..gone.

 

thanks all! what do you mean by vitamin c dosing? and how do you do it?

 

just take the rocks out and rip it off the rocks, it will come off the rock and place the rock back in the tank. this has worked for me

 

maybe if nothing else works, but id really rather not ruin my aquascape haha

 

bump, same question about vitamin c dosing

 

The root system will grow on, around, under, in your rocks, so you'll never get it all out without removing the rocks and thoroughly inspecting/cleaning them. Pull the roots off slowly becaus they tear easily. Adding grape caulerpa to a tank was the worst thing I ever did, it was a nightmare. Good luck If you can find some red grape caulerpa, it's nice looking and easy to keep under control.