Nano-Reef.com Forums > Nuisance Algae Guide

5-O Reefer

Jan 25 2010, 04:36 PM

QUOTE (Jordan_o @ Jan 25 2010, 04:29 PM)

Within specs? ok? You need to list your params, inaccurate params are better than none at all IMO

and how do you know your test kit is inaccurate? what brand is it?

Its a quick dip test kit with the pads. All are reading zero and ph 8.4.

What can u do to get rid of this algae or will it just go away in time with the cycle?

Jordan_o

Jan 25 2010, 04:47 PM

QUOTE (5-O Reefer @ Jan 25 2010, 04:36 PM)

Its a quick dip test kit with the pads. All are reading zero and ph 8.4.

What can u do to get rid of this algae or will it just go away in time with the cycle?

You are on the nuisiance algae guide, if you start from page 1 it will tell you, what you have (if not ID'd which yours is) and how to get rid of it.

5-O Reefer

Jan 25 2010, 04:58 PM

QUOTE (Jordan_o @ Jan 25 2010, 04:47 PM)

You are on the nuisiance algae guide, if you start from page 1 it will tell you, what you have (if not ID'd which yours is) and how to get rid of it.

As stated in my post I wanted to confirm what I have not get advised to read what I have already read.

Jordan_o

Jan 25 2010, 05:07 PM

QUOTE (5-O Reefer @ Jan 25 2010, 04:36 PM)

What can u do to get rid of this algae or will it just go away in time with the cycle?

you just asked how to get rid of it when you said you read through it already? If you read through it you would know that how to get rid of cyano is on the first page.

5-O Reefer

Jan 25 2010, 05:15 PM

QUOTE (Jordan_o @ Jan 25 2010, 05:07 PM)

you just asked how to get rid of it when you said you read through it already? If you read through it you would know that how to get rid of cyano is on the first page.

Thanks buddy, got it.

johnmaloney

Jan 25 2010, 05:27 PM

QUOTE (johnmaloney @ Jan 25 2010, 04:32 PM)

cyano...+1 to ^^

happy first post!

it is normal to have some cyano, but that is an outbreak that needs to be dealt with. Here is the only formula you need to know to be rid of cyano:

1. Reduce nutrients -

Reducing the importation of nutrients:

a. First look at amount you feed, and if there are available phosphates in it above and beyond what will be a byproduct of the feeding. (Are you using phyto etc...what do you feed? how much? how often?)

b. Use higher quality water, either ro/di, or check your ro/di etc...

Increasing the exportation of nutrients:

a. Additional water changes with the water described above.

b. Harvest algae or cyano from the tank and allow more to grow. Usually people use chaeto in a refugium, there are other options. ATS systems etc....big part of the hobby. Phosban + additional rock/DSB etc....

2. Removal of cyanobacteria and maintenance

a. With critters - nerites, chitons and to a lesser extent blue legs for the rocks and glass (blue legs don't do the glass though) ceriths for the sand.

b. Manually - You can siphon it out and should during the water changes described above. You can also brush it off the rocks, use your net to round it up when it starts floating.

3. Tricks for cyano:

a. Higher alkalinity, (like 11dkh if you used most beginner kits - dissolved carbonate hardness test....otherwise 4 meq/l - just my personal preference. Consistency is more important than a certain value.), discourages the growth of cyano.

b. Higher flow discourages the growth of cyano. If you see some spots are more prone to buildup test the flow in those spots and consider adjustment. Cyano can be an opportunity to redesign your current design.

Check your light schedule. How old are your bulbs?
What are your parameters in numbers?
How many fish?

The good news is cyano is easy to beat, and it doesn't have to ruin your reefing experience.

Jordan_o

Jan 25 2010, 05:32 PM

QUOTE (5-O Reefer @ Jan 25 2010, 05:15 PM)

Thanks buddy, got it.

yeah sorry not trying to be rude i just see alot of people come to forums and get chewed out pretty bad because they don't know how to use them properly.

reeftankguy

Jan 25 2010, 05:37 PM

QUOTE (Jordan_o @ Jan 25 2010, 04:32 PM)

yeah sorry not trying to be rude i just see alot of people come to forums and get chewed out pretty bad because they don't know how to use them properly.

So you’re the new Nuisance Algae Guide

Moderator?

Cool...

Jordan_o

Jan 25 2010, 05:47 PM

QUOTE (reeftankguy @ Jan 25 2010, 05:37 PM)

So you’re the new Nuisance Algae Guide

Moderator?

Cool...

lol no just trying to help a new NR member out

johnmaloney

Jan 25 2010, 06:03 PM

5-0 reefer - i would ditch the test strips. good when you cycle a tank because you test a million times while the patience develops...(

- for my first tank it took 3 years to develop). but they aren't that accurate so you will want to get a kit from a reputable company, something like API, or salifert. Skip the Red Sea kit. You will want:

* refractometer. (i used to get away with a hydrometer but....these things are worth the extra $25)
* nitrite test - skip and use the strips if it isn't in the pack and you could use the couple extra bucks for other things- this should read zero from here on out....
* nitrate test
*ph test
* alkalinity test
* mag
* calcium
* ammonia - test strips aren't so bad at this as they are about nitrate, and you shouldn't have to use it....but if something dies I like to be sure when I test and it usually comes in the kit anyway so get it too.
* phosphates - it is said that there are no reliable tests on the market - usually algae/cyano can serve as a test.

***By the way, if you are a beginner out there and are unsure of an id you are making, please post. There are lots of look alikes I need pics for, and the bump doesn't hurt either.

5-O Reefer

Jan 25 2010, 10:51 PM

QUOTE (johnmaloney @ Jan 25 2010, 06:03 PM)

5-0 reefer - i would ditch the test strips. good when you cycle a tank because you test a million times while the patience develops...(

- for my first tank it took 3 years to develop). but they aren't that accurate so you will want to get a kit from a reputable company, something like API, or salifert. Skip the Red Sea kit. You will want:

* refractometer. (i used to get away with a hydrometer but....these things are worth the extra $25)
* nitrite test - skip and use the strips if it isn't in the pack and you could use the couple extra bucks for other things- this should read zero from here on out....
* nitrate test
*ph test
* alkalinity test
* mag
* calcium
* ammonia - test strips aren't so bad at this as they are about nitrate, and you shouldn't have to use it....but if something dies I like to be sure when I test and it usually comes in the kit anyway so get it too.
* phosphates - it is said that there are no reliable tests on the market - usually algae/cyano can serve as a test.

***By the way, if you are a beginner out there and are unsure of an id you are making, please post. There are lots of look alikes I need pics for, and the bump doesn't hurt either.

Thanks for the help. Yeah I will purchase another test kit and get a refractometer.

Another thing that may have contributed to the algae is high temps? I was reading 84.7, so I cut the light time down by 2hrs and going to test a few things out. Hopefully this stuff will go away, it just makes the tank look so nasty. I see all the other awesome tanks out here and hope to be at that point someday.

johnmaloney

Jan 25 2010, 10:56 PM

yeah, that can be a contributor, but the temp isn't necessary. It may discourage it, but the root is the nutrients. That temp needs to come down though, at that high it is probably a large contributor...try to get more water falling, fans, surface area and greater volume of water away from the light. Easier said than done, but at least I didn't just say get a chiller, although you may need to.

nor_cal_nano

Jan 26 2010, 05:06 AM

Any ideas John?

My tank has been up and running for about a year. No nuisance algae up until about a month ago when this stuff started popping up. It seems to do great in high flow areas like on the chaeto and the hydor FLO on the return. It's also been agitating my zoanthid polyps (see pic) and some of my other corals, like xenia, seem to have been effected as well. You can't tell from the pics but fine strings of it blow around in the current off the rocks and the individual polyps.

nebthet

Jan 28 2010, 12:30 AM

Would you know by chance what this macroalgae is?
It is red and branches out with lots of little nubs.
It seems to grow out more than up, but layers itself on top of each other ( like if you put your one hand on top of your other and then flexed your fingers out).
I haven't seen it any where.

johnmaloney

Jan 28 2010, 03:36 AM

maybe dinos or a cyano norcal...it is a little hard to make out. either way - clean out the powerhead, it is probably aiding its spread

johnmaloney

Jan 28 2010, 03:43 AM

nebthet - they have a lot of macros like that one...the very small details you can't really make out in a pic will determine the species...it makes it difficult. Fuzzy short reds are the same way... It looks like a champia species or a lomentaria species.

nebthet

Jan 28 2010, 04:54 AM

QUOTE (johnmaloney @ Jan 28 2010, 03:43 AM)

nebthet - they have a lot of macros like that one...the very small details you can't really make out in a pic will determine the species...it makes it difficult. Fuzzy short reds are the same way... It looks like a champia species or a lomentaria species.

Ok.. I pulled a branch off and took a better pic of it.
It isn't comprised of barrel shaped segments or long segments. The branches run straight and new branches grow from the nubs.

johnmaloney

Jan 28 2010, 10:11 AM

oh that looks way different....what ocean?

nebthet

Jan 28 2010, 07:35 PM

Most of the live rock in my system is Figi, with the exception of one Tonga branch.

Seiryoku

Jan 28 2010, 10:45 PM

Another question for the algae guru!

Any idea why the little patch of byropsis in my tank would die off (I never got around to nuking the rock it was on) while some cotton candy algae on a crag thrives?

The byropsis was about 5" below the water line and the cotton candy is on the sandbed (~11" down). Only thing I can think of is they are feeding off of something different, but I'm not sure what.

johnmaloney

Jan 29 2010, 09:29 PM

QUOTE (nebthet @ Jan 28 2010, 07:35 PM)

Most of the live rock in my system is Figi, with the exception of one Tonga branch.

i have a shortage of those books...I would check with the Laurencia species and Chondrophycus....sorry I am in desperate need of a tax book from the south pacific. Will try to find out more for you if I can...

QUOTE

Any idea why the little patch of byropsis in my tank would die off (I never got around to nuking the rock it was on) while some cotton candy algae on a crag thrives?

The byropsis was about 5" below the water line and the cotton candy is on the sandbed (~11" down). Only thing I can think of is they are feeding off of something different, but I'm not sure what.

bryopsis might not have liked the light/temp/parameters etc...available nutrients are a requisite to growing macros, but not the sole factor in determining the success of an algae to establish itself....shame too it would make keeping some of the odd ones easier...

5-O Reefer

Feb 1 2010, 01:36 PM

Hey John, well I'm still battling the cyano with no real progress. All the water checks out fine and I even added some chaeto to my fuge. I scrub the live rock and stir the sand to loosen the cyano then clean up as much as I can and the rest gets filtered, then I clean the filter floss. I have done water changes also. Any idea what could be going on and what can I do?

Also not sure what the deal with this is but, I am getting quick buildup of green algae on the glass. For example I cleaned the glass at 1130am and at 130pm there was already a film of the algae started again. My lights are run 10 hrs a day with the actinic 12 hrs, the rest led moons. I have the nanotuners 3.24 upgrage kit for my BC14. any help would be great. Thanks!!

johnmaloney

Feb 1 2010, 05:10 PM

the tests are giving you false negatives, there is definitely something to fuel that algae...only government can make something out of nothing.

give it time, it has only been a few days. It sounds like you stirring up the nutrients, which will cause it to get worse, (your film algae outbreak), before it gets better. Good thing still, better in the long run. At least another 2 weeks of the same before you check to see if you are making any progress....Get as much of the junk out as you can each week when you do the water changes. What is your CUC like?

5-O Reefer

Feb 1 2010, 05:19 PM

Ok thanks. Ill keep at it another few weeks and see what happens.

My cuc is approx 7 red hermits, 6 nassaruis(SP?), 2 margarita, and 2 bumble bee snails.

johnmaloney

Feb 1 2010, 07:17 PM

well you dont have anything that eats cyano really...margaritas to some extent, but ...well I will leave it be, but they are a coldwater species...and your bumble bee has a taste for live microfauna too...

this is what I would recommend for a very strong cyano crew:

20 dwarf ceriths
8 florida ceriths
7 nerites (small to medium)

follow the tips on the page before, get a crew that looks like the one I just posted and in 5 weeks the tank will look nice and it should stay that way.

5-O Reefer

Feb 1 2010, 07:34 PM

Thanks John!

Well looks like more bad info from my lfs. I will be returning the margarita and bumble bee.

Any way I can buy that cuc from you, and that's not too many for a 14BC?

johnmaloney

Feb 1 2010, 07:41 PM

it is a "very strong" CUC by my standards for sure, but there is plenty in there for them to eat. after the problem subsides you can donate some, donations in the hobby are easy to make...maybe 1 or 2 snails from each species though... it isnt as aggressive as it sounds. Bio mass size, it isn't much bigger than the current crew, will definitely work better though. Your hermits will whittle down the snails faster than starvation, I would bet on that...just what hermits do, no way around that really. They are cool to watch though, and I like to have them around to at times.

5-O Reefer

Feb 1 2010, 08:12 PM

So where do I sign up to get this cuc coming. I would like to get them from you, you have been really helpful and you're in FL too.

johnmaloney

Feb 1 2010, 08:21 PM

Thanks! You can find them at:
http://reefcleaners.org/index.php?page=sho...t&Itemid=34

5-O Reefer

Feb 1 2010, 09:30 PM

QUOTE (johnmaloney @ Feb 1 2010, 08:21 PM)

Thanks! You can find them at:
http://reefcleaners.org/index.php?page=sho...t&Itemid=34

Done!

Also if after the problem is over, I'm setting up another nano so I can always place some extras in there. Thanks!

johnmaloney

Feb 2 2010, 04:12 AM

thanks! please keep me updated on the progress, I think it will look shiny in a month or so. sounds like a lot of time, but it goes quick in the overall scheme of things.

MitchReef

Feb 16 2010, 09:04 PM

Hey John, I have a new weird one. It grows in big sheets, looking almost like a leaf. Brown in color, very tough, able to be peeled off the acryilic of my false overflow wall. It is very tenaciously attached to the rock, but where it comes off it seems to take all the coralline with it. The tank has been running nearly 2 years, and no rock has been added in a very long time. Nobody appears to be interested in eating it. Here are a couple of pictures of some that I peeled off.

This one is the side that was against the wall, note the coralline stuck to it.

And, just for fun, I still have this nasty maroon turf growing everywhere, but it seems to be subsiding again. It waxes and wanes, seeming to go away just to come back again. If you remember we tried a number of things on it but found notheing that would eat it. Here is a picture that shows it well.

I know the growth is masking the nutrients, but Nitrates and Phosphates both show undetectable on Salifert kits. Any ideas on my new nasty?

johnmaloney

Feb 17 2010, 01:22 AM

short fuzzy reds are near impossible to id without a microscope and a tax book for the region....generally, the furrier they are and simpler the more likely they are to be eaten. Does the main branch break off into smaller branches of each plant? does each pop up from the rock on its own, or do they have a common mat like structure keeping them in place? With simpler delicate macros more critters can cut into them, and snails might be effective. Otherwise you get into hermit, limpet, chiton, urchins, emeralds etc....What cuc do you have in there that isn't eating it?

the first one though...what does that thing look like underwater? mind boiling a piece in the microwave and letting me know if it changes the water color, and to what color? I think it is a red, but it would be nice to know....just do it like you were making tea.

MitchReef

Feb 18 2010, 09:41 PM

I will try to analyze both this weekend. I stripped out so much of the leafy one last weekend that I will have to hunt for a decent piece to make tea out of. It really sticks to the rocks where it has taken a hold. I see a place where it was covering a rock, but it appears to be turning gray and dieing off. Dunno.

I will also get a rock out with the maroon turf from he-L-L and check it out with the loup.

johnmaloney

Feb 18 2010, 10:03 PM

cool enough, let me know how it goes

malibumowry

Mar 9 2010, 04:25 PM

Can anybody identify this macro algae, and any downfalls to it? Some people I know have it, and I noticed saltwaterfish.com is selling it, so I was hoping to get some info on it.

Saltwaterfish.com macro algae

johnmaloney

Mar 9 2010, 07:38 PM

that is codium repens - treat like regular codium, (codium isthmocladium usually), it does like its flow once attached to the rock. Creeps on the rock but is easy to trim, not easy to shape though because it peels.

unbeatablebonz

Jun 25 2010, 01:20 PM

How do I get rid of the brown "flower like" stuff that is growing rapidly in my reef????

Mr. Fosi

Jun 25 2010, 01:33 PM

Those look like hydroids, not algae.

Emerald crabs did a number on mine. Others cover them in epoxy or cyanoacrylate. Some people burn them with fire.

johnmaloney

Jun 25 2010, 01:41 PM

+1 the colonial hydroids I think, but lakshwa or fosi would know more. I heard that the spanish shawl nudibranch eats them, would be cool if you could keep them growing fast and keep that nudi...anyway fire seems like a good idea.

Drewster09

Aug 1 2010, 01:48 PM

QUOTE (nematoad @ Mar 25 2009, 07:34 PM)

Want to id these guys? They're a nuisance to me:

Looks like Gelidium, but green. Gelidium?

No idea. Spreads like wildfire once it gets established though:

My little sister's tank is overrun with it. Need to figure out how to get rid of it. Nothing seems to want to chow down on it.

I manually removed most of it and my green mathrix crab took the stubs all the way down...problem gone...

ok...posted something earlier, but figured i will also add something on this thread. I don't know what this is. I highly doubt it is cyano as i have had it before and this resembles nothing like it. Here is a pic.

johnmaloney

Aug 1 2010, 03:34 PM

cyano, hundreds of species of it, and even film algae will grow on cyano

reefer4ever

Aug 11 2010, 12:15 AM

do u know what this is john?

here is a picture of my algae

http://s847.photobucket.com/albums/ab37/re...pg&newest=1

here is a picture of what this might be? the bottom right picture?

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http:/...366&bih=762

reefer4ever

Aug 11 2010, 09:31 PM

anyone know what it is? thanks in advance

johnmaloney

Aug 12 2010, 10:12 AM

i want to say it is like Rhodomenia or something like that, but I think it has a "y" in the name. Grows fast, pain to scrape up, doesn't look all that bad though

reefer4ever

Aug 12 2010, 11:08 AM

thanks

i googled it and it does have a y in its name: Rhodymenia

johnmaloney

Sep 10 2010, 02:10 PM

hey that is pretty good for me. any words over 5 letterrs trip me up.

gonzalez78

Feb 15 2011, 06:05 PM

Hey John I need help on this. It is growing just on my sand but not on the rocks. I have tried to take them out when I do a water change but I think I only made it worst. Any suggestions on how to get rid of it? Thanks

d0lph1n

Feb 22 2011, 03:00 AM

Any idea, please:

1. brown stuff with bubbles, are these diatoms or dinoflagellates:

2. green stuff bubble like & brown stuff with bubbles

3. green stuff that looks like fungus:

SbCaes

Feb 22 2011, 05:24 AM

QUOTE (gonzalez78 @ Feb 15 2011, 03:05 PM)

Hey John I need help on this. It is growing just on my sand but not on the rocks. I have tried to take them out when I do a water change but I think I only made it worst. Any suggestions on how to get rid of it? Thanks

cyano

QUOTE (d0lph1n @ Feb 22 2011, 12:00 AM)

Any idea, please:

diatoms
green bubble algae
either coralline algae (good) or filamentous algae. (im guessing the latter)