Killing algae for good

[euromomtx]

I started my 125g tank with about 90% pukani dry rock and 10% live rock.
Unfortunately that little bit of live rock had caulerpa on it I guess.
When the first little sprig of it cropped up I was excited! Macro algae..yeah!
After a year of spending more time pruning that stuff in my display tank than actually being able to look at the fish however I am throwing in the towel.

I purchased some new dry rock and have removed a lot of the old rock from the tank.
I have been drying out the rocks.
I want to be sure to completely kill off any of the caulerpa on these rocks before I start over.
Will drying it out kill anything that could sprout a new caulerpa plant?
Or should I soak them in something?
If so what can I soak the rocks in (that's the chemistry part of my question)
TIA!

[HighlandReefer]

I would soak the rock in a bleach solution for 24 hrs. Then clean the rock and repeat the bleach soak until the rock is clean. After that, soak the rock in clean water (rodi water). After that you can re-soak the rock and add a product to remove chlorine to remove any left over remnants of the bleach.

[bertoni]

I suspect that letting the rock dry out will kill all the Caulerpa, but a bleaching would be effective, too.

[euromomtx]

Thanks! I'll try the bleach. I just don't want to chance a return of this weed.

[keith sprague]

i have the same problem w/ this stuff.the problem is my coral is attached to the rock its on so either option is out of the question. what else can we do?is this a N/P problem haveing caulerpa also?

[euromomtx]

I have a lot of encrusting stuff on my rocks and what I am doing is I pretty much cut it apart with bone cutters or chisel and hammer and completely extract the coral and remount it on a clean plug.
My worry is the inverts like coco worms.
The best I could think of was to clean the coco worm tubes with an electric toothbrush (new head before and after of course ;) ).
I am cycling the rock for a few weeks anyway so that would give me a chance to see if caulerpa can come back on a tube worm tube.
If it did come back I'd have to give away the cocoworms to somebody with tangs.
I know my kind of caulerpa has been eaten by tangs (tested it with Scopas and Yellows). I just don't want tangs in my new system.

[keith sprague]

thats hit or miss w/ tangs.i just keep cropping it when i can.problem is the roots are pretty tough. i dont have the time to break down and try what you r doin

[euromomtx]

Yeah I've been pruning it for a year and if I slack off for even just a couple of days it gets ahead of me.
I didn't want to spend all my aquarium time pruning caulerpa.
I even tested my stuff with friend's tangs and they both ate it but I really want a system that is more specialized towards other fish and not include tangs.

[keith sprague]

what kinda caulerpa?i have the grape

[euromomtx]

I think mine is called caulerpa nummularia (it's Latin for numerous ways to make you miserable)
http://www.melevsreef.com/id/caulerpa_nummularia.html

[Allmost]

:|
:fun5::fun5:

I just got some of that for my seahorse tank :S lol will remove it ASAP knowing it can go out of control like this.

[bertoni]

It can be very tenacious. I exterminated it from all my tanks over time, but it required a lot of patience. I didn't do all that much pruning, just mostly kept nutrients under control.

[redfishsc]

Agreed with all those that suggested bleach.

I often use calcium hypochlorite (available at pool supply stores) just because it's less messy (I always bleach spots on my jeans or shirt when I use a liquid bleach).


Be sure to rinse the rock well and then (in the final rinse) hit the soak water with a large dose of whatever brand cheap dechlorinator you have--- any of them will work.


Be sure to clean your tank out thoroughly as well. With caulerpa you may not need to bleach the tank/sump system, but it wouldn't hurt. Especially since small shards of caulerpa might be stuck in your impellers or plumbing.

I am doing this right now (b/c of bryopsis and chaeto). I gave the rock a 4 day bleaching and am now cycling it in a spare tank on my patio using household ammonia. I'll nuke the whole tank system once the sterilized rock has fully ammonia-cycled and is ready to be put in the freshly sterilized tank system.

[euromomtx]

Okay I got a 45 gallon rubbermaid and put the rocks in there along with a little over 20 gallons of water and around 3 1/2 cups bleach.
Does that sound sufficient?
Does it need water circulating or just sit in there?
Could a pump be damaged (corrode, etc.) if used in bleach water?

[RegalAngel]

When I "clean" the algae on my artifical corals, rocks, etc. in my FO tank, I soak for about 30 minutes in a tub of about 20g with about 4 cups of bleach.
It works fine and no need for circulation. I then place them in a tub with clean water for another 30 minutes, and then hose off before placing them back in the tank.

[bertoni]

I don't think that solution is strong enough to damage the pump if it's used for a brief time. You might check afterwards, though. The solution should kill the algae.