Alaska_Phil

I suggest manual removal of algae.I would also take a power head and try to blow the remainder off. After that, let the CUC have the left overs.

looks like you have bigger probs need to get algae in check, get nutrients in check. get something to remove phosphates and nitrates. you could use a turkey baster to blow it off.

It's turf algae, it doesn't blow off. I can't even pull it off with tweezers.

I suspect the core of this coral died last year during a heat wave when the then tank temp got way too high. That's when the algae set in on this coral.

Nutrients are unmeasureable and my algae scrubber is going gung ho with lots of bright green alage. I've just replenished my clean-up crew, I was down to only 6 snails.

So, my original question: would it be better to frag it out, or leave it alone?

I would just cut and save.. another options I've tried is dipping in 5:1 ratio tank water to peroxide sometime as strong as 1:1 but you can drag some off and try diff ratios. algae turns diff color them dies off quickly for easy manual removal

I think I'll just do both. Cut a couple frags, but leave the main colony intact. My new Mithrax crabs seem to spend a lot of time picking at the algae in it, so who knows?

Phil

I'd leave it alone unless the algae starts to over grow the living coral. The corals in the wild all look like this, only the tips end up living because they block the sunlight in the middle.

Jessy, thanks for the insite. I haven't had much opportunity to view corals in the wild myself. I was trying to pick some of the algae out last night and broke off a couple tips, so I planted them in likely spots around the tank. Later, my red flashlight reveled a mixrath crab perched on top of it busily picking away at the algae.

Phil