Fast growing caulorpa or hair algae for filtering

[Jyetman]

My algae scrubber has been taken over by clumps of grape caulorpa. It seems the hair algae is no longer winning is this going to be a problem or do I have to start over? My DT has now become overrun with caulorpa trimming it back and small water changes is daily and I'm loosing. Just bought a one spot foxface hope he can help. Any suggestions would be great.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

In terms of nutrient export, you basically want to let the winner self-select. If one species outcompetes another on the scrubber, it's because it is naturally the best at growing in the conditions you have, which is exactly what you want.

In terms of fighting the problem in the display, well - having good nutrient export outside of the display (ie in the scrubber) will help, but you're also going to need to continue manually removing and fighting with critters that naturally feed on it. The foxface is probably a good start. Might want to think about some emerald mithrax crabs and/or an urchin if the foxface doesn't have a taste for it.

[ca1ore]

That's exactly the problem with calaurpa, it gets hold and is neigh impossible to get rid of. I would not ever put it into a reef tank intentionally.

[karimwassef]

Get a real rabbitfish. No vegetation survives

[karimwassef]

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/1D1AA62A-E974-42F8-8215-84A0CBBD35E1_zpscovlemeo.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/1D1AA62A-E974-42F8-8215-84A0CBBD35E1_zpscovlemeo.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 1D1AA62A-E974-42F8-8215-84A0CBBD35E1_zpscovlemeo.jpg"></a>

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/1FB5FFB9-E80B-4C28-A03A-1BD6A3AD3226_zpsviervpgr.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/1FB5FFB9-E80B-4C28-A03A-1BD6A3AD3226_zpsviervpgr.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 1FB5FFB9-E80B-4C28-A03A-1BD6A3AD3226_zpsviervpgr.jpg"></a>

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/6598f3aa-412f-4eaa-baeb-a03841d6d33f_zpsnmsrxjmu.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/6598f3aa-412f-4eaa-baeb-a03841d6d33f_zpsnmsrxjmu.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 6598f3aa-412f-4eaa-baeb-a03841d6d33f_zpsnmsrxjmu.jpg"></a>

[Jyetman]

That rabbit fish would get his cheeks squished from side to side in my 80 gallon tank!

[karimwassef]

When I got him, he was 1" and still ate like a pig