Caulerpa racemosa (Grape)

[cavediver]

Hi group,
I'm experiencing a breakout of Grape Caulerpa in my main tank. It's difficult to harvest by hand, especially in-between and under rocks and ledges. I'm debating on adding a tang to my tank to enjoy this buffet, but I'm not too sure what type of tang would be best for the job, any suggestions? Also, are there any inverts that are potentially on the list for a cleanup crew?

The tank is about 2.5 months old (a new 180 being converted from my 35) and I imagine that the nutrients are being supplied to the Algae from a small cycle. The lighting on the new 180 is from 3 X 400W 6500K Iw's.

My LFS suggested that Cauplerpa's are calcium lovers, and that they do quite well in tanks with a good calcium level. Will it absorb calcium and be partially responsible for my calcium levels not being as high as I would like? (300-350ish). My Alk is about 12, so I think I am in the right ballpark.

Thanks for your help,

John

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

There are several tangs that are vegetarians. The common ones are from the Zebrasoma family. Yellow, Sailfin and Purple. These tang have a maximum size that is manageable, but they do like grape calerpa. I have a Yellow tang and it wiped out my display tank calerpa in 1 week.

Tangs to avoid...if possible :
Blue powder don't fair too well in captivity. The naso and sohal are...big...find a full grown one in a LFS and you'll know what I mean. Hippo/Regal Tang is not a vegetrian -- they like to eat shrimp and other meaty things.

As with most tangs, they get pretty big. IMHO, I would only get one -- even on a 180.

Calerpa...in general...do not consume much calcium or any. There are several types of macro algae that do -- such as Halimeda. But, I don't think Tangs can eat that type of calcium based macro-algae. Grape calerpa is not one of the calcium based macro-algae.

As for your calcium level, there could be many factors that can prevent the tank from reaching 400ppm. How are you maintaining calcium and alk levels in your tank ? How often are you changing your water ? Have you ever add too much calcium to the tank ?

Hope that helps.

- Victor.