Is this some type of Caulerpa?

[rachelcb80]

This vine like algae with small, flat, round leaves is growing pretty rapidly in this one spot on my rocks. It's starting to spread though and I'm seeing vines reaching out pretty far. I pick off what I can get to but it grows right back. I'm assuming it's some hardy algae that no critter will eat and my only hope of removing it is tedious, time consuming manual removal. Am I right?

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f385/rachelcb80/algae001.jpg

[Hop]

Yes and yes... Nasty stuff IMO that is hard to get rid of.

[rachelcb80]

Hop,

So the only thing that can really be suggested is to get busy with a pair of tweezers? Other than the obvious of making sure nutrient export is at it's best.

[Logzor]

1. Two-Barred Rabbitfish (they are reef safe if food is available).
2. Vitamin C or Vodka Dosing (with good skimming)
3. Feed lightly (freeze dried cyclopeze once a day)
4. Turkey baste or blow off rocks daily and increase flow in tank
5. Run phosban

Water changes, of course,.

If done right you can rid "unkillable" algae following these steps. Some just seems to thrive in sps conditions so you really have to attack it from all directions.

Picking the algae will simple spread it.

Trust me if you take these steps you can get rid of that algae. A warning though; be sure to have done research on vitamin c / vodka dosing and have stable alk and calcium.

If you have any stony corals they will pale due to the lack of nutrients.

[reefscape15]

that stuff is such a pain! Now that it's in your tank, you will probably never get rid of it all, but a good algae eating fish will take care of it for you.

[rachelcb80]

Logzor,

1) I have a Purple Tang and an Orange Fin Tang currently in my 125. I'm wondering if adding a Rabbitfish would be a good idea?

2) I've been in the process of studying up on vodka dosing. I actually just posted in the vodka dosing thread with some final questions.

3) Right now I just feed nori once a day and either cyclops, or frozen mysis. (I rinse the frozen food before feeding it)

4) For flow I have two Vortechs, one on each end of my tank. They're both turned up to about 75%. Does that seem like a reasonable amount of flow? I don't blow off my rocks every day so I'll add that to my daily tank chores.

5) I run GFO and carbon 24/7.

I have mostly all LPS and softies in my tank right now. This week I did add a M. digita frag but that's my only SPS at this time.

[Logzor]

It sounds like you are doing most things right. The things is this algae can survive and thrive in sps water conditions. The flow sounds good, feeding is fine, I would change the GFO - it can literally reach capacity in 24 hours if enough phosphates are present.

I think you could add the rabbitfish just fine, they eat algae that NO other fish will. It is the viragate rabbitifsh.

Definitely look into vodka dosing. This will weaken the algae and make it more palatable to all of your fish.

[rachelcb80]

I didn't realize the GFO could get used up so quickly. It's about 2 weeks old now so I guess I'll change it out tomorrow morning. Most likely will start dosing vodka as soon as I feel like I have a 100% understanding of everything involved. And I'll look into seeing if my LFS can get a Two Barred Rabbitfish in for me. Hopefully I won't have any issues between it and my Purple Tang.

Thanks for your time!

[Logzor]

No problem.

You will have territorial issues for a short time. I keep mine with a tomini tang, which is a type of bristletooth. After a day or two things will settle down. The tangs will actually follow after the rabbitfish and eat what he eats.

[rachelcb80]

I wonder how lucky I'll get as far as whether or not the Rabbitfish I get is a coral nipper. I have some zoas I'm pretty fond of. Any troubles with yours?