Age Old Problem

[Crazy fishes]

As many of you know my current situation is a 24g D-D which is modified; topless with a 125W 14000K halide and a Aqua reef 200 which has a 20W actinic blue T8 and 2x 36W 50:50 PC from the canopy of the 24g (It is precariously balanced ). There is also a 15W T8 over the rear filter which I modified with some Chaetomorpha and old jewel filter sponges.

Now my 'age old problem' is one I have tried to sort before but due to a number of factors was unable to fully resolve. My lighting on the tanks is not matched appropriately to the organisms it contains. My experience has lead me to believe that 125W halide on a 24g containing mainly LPS (Hammer, Frogspawn, Elegance, Plate), a colony of platythoa and 2x leather toadstools is a little overkill. However I need the lighting for my Deresa and squamosa clams. This tank has also been plagued by an uncontrollable onslaught for the mighty caulerpa; this stuff is relentless. I did once beat the caulerpa into submission and had it under control using a long spined urchin but unfortunately these critters grow fast and big which is less than ideal in a 24g aquarium. He also developed a taste for corals, anemones, rock, glass and anything else that stayed still long enough for him to bite it. The second urchin I tried is now in my aquareef does not eat anything other than algae (Coraline, hair and nori sheets, but NOT caulerpa ). At present I am trying Money Cowries but with only three of them and the uncertainty they will actually eat caulerpa I am skeptical they will make much of an impression. A tang would work, probably clearing the tank in a week but no one would/should put a tang in a 24g aqarium. The only other option is a a dwarf angel, a coral beauty but then the clam mantles would undoubtly be chewed as would the various LPS scattered around the tank.

What I would like to do is switch the light so the halide is over the Aquareef which is some 24 inches deep (currently referred to as deep blue whereas the 24g represents shallow seas) and put the original 2x 36W PC canopy back on the D-D but I would need to move the clams and possibly some of the other corals but that would undoubtly spread the caulerpa to my aquareef. My ultimate goal is to have one soft/LPS tank and one SPS (acro, monti and stylophora)/ tridacna tank but the green stuff is inhibiting my progression.

Any advice on lighting and/or the termination of caulerpa would be very much appreciated. I will post some pictures of the tank on marine chit-chat forum.

Kindest regards

Joe

 

[AK77]

What about Mithrax crabs? They love munching grape caulerpa. I'd be reluctant to change the lighting around, as your tank inhabitants are obviously used to it now and it may cause problems.
I'd try removing as much as possible by hand and introduce a mithrax to work on the remainder.

 

[seffieuk]

Agree with AK, emerald crabs seem to eat any algae

seffie x

 

[Crazy fishes]

Thanks for the reply guys, most appreciated. I did have a thought about emeralds but isn't it one per tank. If I could get away with an emerald army then that would certainly be another option.

Many thanks again

Joe

 

[seffieuk]

Joe, they are monster munchers

Seffie x

 

[Crazy fishes]

Ok, so you think just the one maybe enough. I forgot that there is a pincushion urchin (about 1 inch diameter) in the 24g as well. He was a surprise that I found when moving all the rock from the lido into the aquareef. So in total there is 3 cowries, 3 blue legged hermits, three turbos, a funny looking black snail, a pincushion urchin and possibly a hitchhiker crab (he had really hairy legs and looked menacing; could be an emerald or teddy bear crab). Either way these guys are not really doing much in the way of removing the algae.
I took the time to feed my elegance and plate coral today and they eat really fast especially the plate. I put a spiral of dense brine shrimp from the oral disc to the edge and then had to protect it by fending off the hawkfish and skunk-cleaner shrimp with a syringe. If you haven't taken the time to watch a plate coral eat you should just the once as it is pretty interesting. The tentacles flex and sink down into the skeleton pinning the food down and then oral disc gapes open while the food is migrating into a straight line which then shortens as it is consumed. The process took about 2-3 minutes and left a full looking plate coral !

Also having a look around and have found some Acropora and Stylophora frags for a reasonable price. I have a spot 6-8 inches from the water surface and directly under the 2x 36W PC and 20W actinic T8 which would be a prefect home for something. How do people feel about Acropora under that lighting? Without a PAR meter it is hard to tell how much functional light will reach them but some opinions would be useful.

Many thanks

Joe

 

[AK77]

I'd definitely try to get a photograph of the hitchhiker crab and identify it properly to avoid any potential future problems. I remember ages ago, I found someone selling these awesome little crabs on eBay. I was really tempted to get one as they were only about 1" in size. Then I researched and ID them and these things would have eaten everything in my tank and achieved a monsterous size lol.

I'd just introduce the one mithrax crab and see how well it performs with eating the caulerpa. If you were to add more than that, and there was no abundant food source after the caulerpa was all gone, then they might move on to hunting other things or simply starve to death. As the old saying goes "steady wins the race".

 

[Crazy fishes]

I'd definitely try to get a photograph of the hitchhiker crab and identify it properly to avoid any potential future problems. I remember ages ago, I found someone selling these awesome little crabs on eBay. I was really tempted to get one as they were only about 1" in size. Then I researched and ID them and these things would have eaten everything in my tank and achieved a monsterous size lol.

I'd just introduce the one mithrax crab and see how well it performs with eating the caulerpa. If you were to add more than that, and there was no abundant food source after the caulerpa was all gone, then they might move on to hunting other things or simply starve to death. As the old saying goes "steady wins the race".

He is fine; no problems since tank started. Even if there was a crab with the potential to grow massive the food available to him is so limited that he can't develop that big. Something that has recently happened is my colony of Plathythoa has gone brilliant white but are still growing ??? Strange isn't it....

Regards