When I started my small little pico tank, I thought I would chuck some Caulerpa in there as I thought it might look quite nice growing along with the coral.

Nearly a year and a half later, the weed is everywhere and it's starting to annoy me as I just can't seem to get rid of the stuff. I'm going to pull the tank to bits in a week or so, clean the sand out, brush the rocks off, and hopefully rid myself of the Caulerpa once and for all.

Does anyone know of any good techniques for doing this? I'm sure I'm not the only one who's made the mistake of adding this to there tank only to severely regret it later. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Nearly a year and a half later, the weed is everywhere and it's starting to annoy me as I just can't seem to get rid of the stuff.

He He! A common story!

Even removing the rock you will find it a lot harder than you think to get every last bit. Luckily you have a small tank, my suggestion would be to remove the rock and meticulously clean, put back in the tank, then have a jug and turkey baster near the tank. Each time you see a little caulerpa sprout, boil the jug and zap the caulerpa with a turkey baster of boiling water, ensuring to get a little penetration into the rock to kill roots.

Doing this you should eventually be able to eradicate it.

Can it be a good idea in fuges though? Or does it eventually escape into the display?

Yes it can be a good idea in fuges, there are both pros and cons though so some research is a good idea first.

Done right it will not get into the main tank.

Can it be a good idea in fuges though?

Depends what you're using it for:

If you want to use it to reduce nutrients, I say no, it's not a good idea. Why? Problem algae doesn't grow in low nutrient tanks right? So, how can you grow an algae like calurpa, and expect it will reduce nutrients to levels which will prevent problem algae growing, when itself requires high nutrients to grow. Plus it pumps out plenty of nasty waste into the tank itself.

If on the other hand you have a fetish for critters and algae, then yeah it's probably a good idea. It will trap plenty of nutrients for critters to eat and reproduce.

Personally I wouldn't put the stuff anywhere near a tank, ever.

A fetish Layton? :lol:

Cheers Wasp. I'll give the boiling water trick a go once I've cleaned it all off. I'll post my experiences of cleaning the tank out - hopefully it should deter anyone repeating the same mistake.

Be interested to hear how it goes!

and hopefully rid myself of the Caulerpa once and for all.

that statement makes me laugh (sorry tom gunner) but 20 years ago it was almost impossible to get it growing and "you" were the "man" doing so. now you're the antichrist :evil:

"and hopefully rid myself of the Caulerpa once and for all."

I do realise that statement is painfully optimistic.