Ska's 28 Macro Algae Display

[skabooya]

BOOYA! CUC is ordered plus some photosynthetic gorgs YAY! Major WC is in the future for my tank tomorrow as well as a MAJOR pruning. Gotta get things presentable.
Then I think I will start dosing again to get the macro growing and hopefully it will starve out the nuisance algae.
Gonna start off really slow.

[don.ald]

Ok, how about some before and after pics?

[skabooya]

*shudder* I dunno. My tank looks really really bad... and empty. Even my corals are suffering... except the shrooms. My goal is to bring my candycane back. Each head is 1/2 dead. Maybe I will take a pic. I dunno. It disgusts me.

[skabooya]

Right, so I did a 10 gal WC on this thing which is about 50%. Yes the tank is a 28gal but the rocks, equipment and sand take up volume so there is less than 28gallons of water in the tank.
(I know the majority of you know this but I am just stating this again for those that are unsure and because a couple of my students wanted to look at my tank :P )

I did a vinegar bath/soak, for my powerheads, and now my skimmer. It works wonders. All kinds of algae just melt in the vinegar and I use a toothbrush to just brush it all off under hot water. Comes off smooth like butter in a hot pan.

Waiting on my skimmer and then that will go back into the tank.
As I look in there I can see quite a few strands of grape calupera. I just want to stick my hands in there and rip more out but, I need to spend some time with the most important thing in my life. My son

Maybe tomorrow during his nap I will tear some more out of the tank.

[skabooya]

Right...so... here it is after a cleaning....




WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

[skabooya]

Pulled some more macro today. It was pretty difficult as there isn't much to grab onto. On a good note, my candy cane and frogspawn are puffing up very nicely. I'm not sure if it was the massive WC or the stirring of the sand bed releasing all the gunk into the water column. I know they loved it when I did that before, but I'm betting the WC helped out a lot.

[RESONANCE]

Hey Ska,

Been a while since I've checked up on your tank. Sorry to hear bout all your aquarium troubles! I'm glad you haven't given up yet. Being a saltie - there's tons of rewards but also some real tough lessons to learn both emotionally and financially for a 'light' hobby.

In terms of the choice of macros, especially caulerpa - one has to be careful in chosing the varieties. I've found any for of caulerpa racemosa (espcially any form of grape caulerpa -var. pelata) and caulerpa prolifera (ex: knife caulerpa) to be especially aggressive. Others include sawband caulerpa and sometimes C. Mexicana.

In your tank's best interest, I would very strongly suggest you get rid of all your live rock and sand that was covered by your grape caulerpa. From experience both Grape caulerpa and Knife caulerpa can re-grow from just a few cells (root, stem, any sort) clinging in a fissure in your live rock. So for months after you think you've cleaned it all out, suddenly you may experience a re-birth/ explosion of this nuisance macro. I know it seems like such a waste of money/ live rock but think of it this way, by throwing them out now, you're saving yourself a ton of future grief and heart ache. You can always re-use your old live rock after you've let it dry thoroughly for about 3+ months.

As for having to spend money on new live rock - look at it as if it's a fresh start. To save some money, you can buy a third of the amount you need live and the other 2/3s dry rock/ man made which will be seeded by the new live rock.

In terms of suggestions for future macros, the safe forms of caulerpa in my experience are Caulerpa Paspaloides (Palm Caulerpa) and Caulerpa Cupressoides (Cactus Caulerpa). Both are comparatively slow growing and easy to manage. In addition, they look nicer than most other caulerpas .

[skabooya]

Thanks.
I'm gonna try this first. Honestly I don't mind the grape, I just wish it didn't take over like it did. I loved the look of it. If the cuc can help at all then I will just keep up with that, otherwise I will just have to remove all the sand and LR and start over, which is what I was thinking of doing to begin with anyways, but I'm stubborn. :P

[RESONANCE]

Nothing wrong with the 'look' of grape caulerpa - in fact I agree it's nice in appearance. It's the aggressively growing behavior which I'm wary of. The ability of it to choke out any rival type of macro algae as well as coral by the sheer speed and volume of its growth...Thus resulting in your need to prune them weekly.



I swear, if my macro tank was as labor intensive as your macro tank, I would have quit long ago lol. Weekly pruning of macros? Pshhh far too much work for me lol. Macro algae tanks are meant to be easier to handle and ARE easier if done the right way. Pruning in my tank is more like once every 2 months or so... at it's worst I had to do it once a month.

Just trying to make you see reason loooool. Then again, to each his or her own I suppose.

Cheers!

[skabooya]

Yup, I didn't mind the weekly trimming. I actually like to work on my tanks. Its relaxing, but now I have a toddler and we are planning on another one and its not relaxing anymore. I just don't have as much time. I still love macro tanks, but the grape just takes over. The calupra prolifera just cant compete, although now I'm hoping it will get a foothold but we shall see how things go.

I notice that after being squished the grape calupera goes pale and dies. The only places it seems to crop up are from the tips of stems. I'm wondering about taking a brush to the whole thing and squishing the lot of it. It cant get any worse than it is now... (famous last words).