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What eats Sea Lettuce?


FireCorals

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I have been in this hobby for over 15 years and have never had a problem with sea lettuce, I don't know if it's because I have always had large tanks and tangs or if I have just gotten extremely unlucky here. They started off tiny on one frag I have purchased and now have basically taken over my tank.

 

So i need to know, what eats this stuff and won't eat my zoas and LPS that I can keep in a 7.5g tank?

 

Thank you so much in advanced for your help and suggestions.

Mike C.

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I have been in this hobby for over 15 years and have never had a problem with sea lettuce, I don't know if it's because I have always had large tanks and tangs or if I have just gotten extremely unlucky here. They started off tiny on one frag I have purchased and now have basically taken over my tank.

 

So i need to know, what eats this stuff and won't eat my zoas and LPS that I can keep in a 7.5g tank?

 

Thank you so much in advanced for your help and suggestions.

Mike C.

 

Let's see a pic! Manual removal isn't too hard for sea lettuce. Tear them off at the base.

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TeflonTomDosh
I have been in this hobby for over 15 years and have never had a problem with sea lettuce, I don't know if it's because I have always had large tanks and tangs or if I have just gotten extremely unlucky here. They started off tiny on one frag I have purchased and now have basically taken over my tank.

 

So i need to know, what eats this stuff and won't eat my zoas and LPS that I can keep in a 7.5g tank?

 

Thank you so much in advanced for your help and suggestions.

Mike C.

manatee.jpg

 

Actually, I hear buffalo sculpin eat it, but good luck finding one of those..

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Amphiprion1

Hmm, almost anything remotely herbivorous should eat it. It is quite delectable to most herbivorous animals, including everything from snails, some worms, to even amphipods, the latter of which seems to mow it down. Either growing conditions are very much to its liking or you don't have many herbivores.

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TeflonTomDosh
Hmm, almost anything remotely herbivorous should eat it. It is quite delectable to most herbivorous animals, including everything from snails, some worms, to even amphipods, the latter of which seems to mow it down. Either growing conditions are very much to its liking or you don't have many herbivores.

Every article I've read on it says once it's rooted you'll pretty much never get rid of it.

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Amphiprion1
Every article I've read on it says once it's rooted you'll pretty much never get rid of it.

 

Didn't mean to imply you could get rid of it, especially if it sporulates, just that it should be controllable (i.e. cropped) with enough herbivory.

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Let's see a pic! Manual removal isn't too hard for sea lettuce. Tear them off at the base.

Yes, I do this often, but it grows back rather quickly.

 

manatee.jpg

 

Actually, I hear buffalo sculpin eat it, but good luck finding one of those..

lolol

 

Hmm, almost anything remotely herbivorous should eat it. It is quite delectable to most herbivorous animals, including everything from snails, some worms, to even amphipods, the latter of which seems to mow it down. Either growing conditions are very much to its liking or you don't have many herbivores.

I have hermits they didn't touch it, or at least put a dent in it's growth. I just added a cucumber, but it doesn't seem to be doing much or at least fast enough.

 

Every article I've read on it says once it's rooted you'll pretty much never get rid of it.

 

This is correct, if it was a larger tank and I had tangs, I probably would never have the chance to see any of it, but considering it's a 7.5g I am very limited to what I can put in there.

 

Didn't mean to imply you could get rid of it, especially if it sporulates, just that it should be controllable (i.e. cropped) with enough herbivory.

It's just figuring out what type of herbivores I can put in such a small tank that would be effective enough to keep up with it's growth.

 

Rip it off, right? It is only a 7.5 gallon tank.

Or use a knife.

 

As stated above, I have done this, plucked it all off, but within a week or so it's all back in full force. I had added a cucumber as recommended by a few fellow hobbyist, but I think I should of added 3-4 more.

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Cucumber? Are you sure you don't mean something else? Sea cucumbers will not touch Ulva, unfortunately.

 

A couple people recommended Yellow Cucumbers, do they not eat Sea Lettuce? Lol.

 

I've never dealt with this stuff before, so any suggestions I am willing to try.

 

I guess I have an ugly blob walking around my tank for nothing now? haaaa

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Amphiprion1
A couple people recommended Yellow Cucumbers, do they not eat Sea Lettuce? Lol.

 

I've never dealt with this stuff before, so any suggestions I am willing to try.

 

I guess I have an ugly blob walking around my tank for nothing now? haaaa

 

You mean these?

 

http://www.aquariumdomain.com/viewMarineIn...rt_marine_id=71

 

None of the major sea cucumber species eat algae--at least not unless it comprises detritus or phytoplankton. Macroalgae isn't on the menu for these animals.

 

There are herbivores that should eat it. I don't like many of them for various reasons, but you can try them out. One such recommendation is Mithraculus crabs--aka emerald crabs. If it is scraped close to the rock, many snails should eat it, also. It's going to be slightly hit or miss, unfortunately.

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Turbos, hermits, emerald crabs, even ceriths can eat it because it is soft enough for them to cut through although they wouldn't be my first choice. I agree with Amphiprion1, very palatable algae and readily consumed by almost every herbivore, I think whoever told you nothing eats it had it confused with halimeda maybe.

 

Yellow sea cucumbers wouldnt eat it though.

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Why not a small urchin? They are known to scrape against the rocks themselves. An urchin would definitely get the closest to the root as possible. When it gets bigger, trade it in for a smaller one.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Sea hare, lettuce nudi, you could also let the rock dry for a day.(if their is no coral on it). Hydrogen peroxide works good as a dip diluted with tank water 50/50 ratio for killing algea. With no ill affects on corals.

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  • 3 years later...

revitalizing an old thread here. So guess what I have now. Added a couple emeralds today to see if they go to it when they are finished with the bubble algae. Honestly I don't know if I introduced all of this stuff with new frags, or if I just over feed and create a happy environment for the algae to flourish. Sigh. So frustrating.

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