Help, how do I get rid of macro algae??

[vertex]

I have an explosion of macro algae (I think some kind of red calerpa or something) that is growing like a WEED on the tops of ALL my rocks that have high lighting.

What is the best way to get control of this? What herbivores would be best to add or are there other methods?

Its a 33 gal with 196 W PC lighting. I have 4 astrea snails, 5 cerith, and down to about 6 blue leg hermits, CB shrimp and a brittle star for cleaning critters. I also have anenomies, open brain, mushrooms, zoos, and acropora SPS so don't want any DANGEROUS critters.

Please help!!

 

[mastershake]

whats it look like, red calurepa is difficult to keep from what i understand, and it is also very nice looking

does your algea look like a slimy red goo, then its probably cyano, couple ways to get rid of it, most effective wait it out, how long has the tank been set up, and all that,

 

[vertex]

here is what it looks like. Definitely not cyano from what I know. I've asked before but nobody seems to know what it was, just assumed some kind of caluerpa macro algae or something. Anyway, does someone know what this is or how to get it under control? What invert or clean up crew would help with this??

 

[klam]

Some tangs might eat that stuff.

My old 10g got infested by some similar stuff like that and it pretty muched took over. I sold and gave some infested rock away to people and they said there tangs ate it. I think they said a sohol(sp?) and blue tang ate it.

What I did to get rid of this red algae was to place the infested rock in a dark bucket with PH for about 3months to starve the algae from light.

here is a pic of the stuff I had

Good luck

 

[vertex]

That doesn't sound very good. My tank is only a 33 so a tang is not really an option. Are there any crabs or other critters that might help battle this stuff??

 

[thanew]

maybe a blenny ?

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/algeatrcontfaqs.htm

 

[malkore]

Yeah i'm thinking blenny. lawnmower blenny might be too big...maybe a scooter or bi-color.
(I really need to read up on my SW species)

 

[vertex]

I've got a scooter blenny but he doesn't seem to eat any algae whatsoever. he hunts the pods and shrimps in the tank. At least that's what I've seen watching him. I think the lawnmower blenny gets too big for a 33g.

I think I'll do what I can to control it manually for a few weeks and get some more blue legged crabs. (They definitely keep all the green algae in check and hair algae). Another related thread was talking about this also.

Are their any other types of crabs that are good in my small setup, safe in a reef setup and hlepful for algae control?

 

[Biotoper]

I'm not that familiar with red macroalgae, but it doesn't look like anything I've seen before - Gracilaria (sp?) spp are the most common red macros seen in aquaria. Caulerpa is a green algae genus - no such thing as red caulerpa. Red macros generally grow slowly, relative to green macro or microalgae, so hand removal would work - but it looks like your stuff is too invasive for that to work. I actually think it looks kind of cool, but YMMV.

I think a lawnmower blenny is fine in 30g and up - good algae-growth is of course needed to keep them healthy. They supposedly can be territorial with other species that hang out on rock, like gobies. Scooter blenny is not a blenny at all, but a dragonet, eats pods, and AFAIK is pretty hard to keep long term in anything smaller than 75g unless you have a good refugium. For clean-up crew choices, most small hermits will be ok - various species in the Calcinus, Clibanarius, Paguristes (sp?). Green Mithrax crabs are good algae eater and maybe the best choice for a true crab, but they can still be aggressive sometimes. 4 Astreas may not be enough in 33g to keep the LR clean. Other good snails worth investigating are Turbo and Trochus. It looks like in the pic that you don't have much purple coralline algae on the LR - of course it'll take time but promoting coralline algae growth (high Ca?) is maybe the best bet long-term.

 

[X the Outsider]

My hermit crabs love that stuff. Also a Bicolor Blenny would help as well.

You could also try to give it to a LFS. I don't know if they'll give you anything, but you'll be rid of it.

 

[Jonathan G.]

ive got one emerald and one red mythrax crab that are good at eating the algea and other stuff off of my rock. but i also have a lot of turbo's and astrea snails and a LMB so its hard to tell which cleans more

 

[klam]

Heard that tuxedo urchin will eat it. My astreas, ceriths snails didn't touch it. My red scarlet hermits didn't touch it either.