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Chondria
Last updated on November 17th, 2023
About Chondria
Chondria is a large, branching macroalgae that is transparent with a reddish tint. It can grow in a branchy bush-like fashion or stick to the rocks.
What Causes Chondria
Chondria is often sprouted from a small piece that was on coral, a shell, or rock that was added to the saltwater aquarium. Phosphates and nitrates in the reef aquarium allow this algae to continue to grow in the reef tank.
How to get Rid of Chondria
This macro algae tends to be easily removed by peeling it off the rock by hand. Then allowing the cleanup crew to handle any remaining pieces.
One way to slow algae growth is to reduce nitrates and phosphates entirely by keeping a good refugium with cheato macroalgae and a strong refugium light. This algae will grow, and consume both nitrates and phosphates from the reef tank. Starving chondria of phosphates and nitrate, preventing it from growing.
What Eats Chondria
Though chondria is easily removed by hand, there are pieces that may be left behind that broke off and stuck to the rock. Thankfully, there are many cleanup crew members that eat chondria. The most popular include emerald crabs, hermit crabs, Mexican turbo snails, and urchins. For small pieces inside of rock, you may want to focus on emerald crabs and hermit crabs as they have arms allowing them to reach and cut the algae.
Recommended Products:
- No products to recommend for chondria.
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