Red bubble algae or Red grapes?

[Whisk]

I've been told this is red bubble algae. But does bubble algae branch like a vine of grapes? Could this be young red sea grapes (Botryocladia uvaria)?

 

They have stems, and one of the strands has a bunch of bubbles/grapes on it. These things are spreading like crazy and quickly over the rocks. I'm clueless because of these things are individual bubbles which makes me think its bubble algae and some are strands which means it could be red sea grape? I'm trying to ID this stuff before I scrape it off or get rid of the LR completely. Maybe I have both on the LR? Help! thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Botryocladia uvaria (web photo)

[johnmaloney]

you probably have botryocladia pyriformis. It is one of the species of botryocladia that does branch up somewhat, but not very tall and mostly creeps along the rocks, like the rest of the nuisance red bubble species. It also can be too young to tell, as botryocladia occidentalis starts out that way.

[Whisk]

you probably have botryocladia pyriformis. It is one of the species of botryocladia that does branch up somewhat, but not very tall and mostly creeps along the rocks, like the rest of the nuisance red bubble species. It also can be too young to tell, as botryocladia occidentalis starts out that way.

 

Thanks for your input John. Seems like there are so many types of botryocladia its hard to narrow down exactly which one this is. I am very worried this stuff is going to take over my tank, even if i try to manually remove the the stem and scrub the rock in a quaratine container, I have a feeling its just going to come back. What a crappy way to start a new tank.

[johnmaloney]

You got it close enough with pyriformis to know how to deal with it. The others that look similar, (small branches but creepers), are handled the same way. Definitely a lot of species of botryo out there, amazing how it can be a family that is sought after, and dreaded at the same time. Juvenile emerald crabs and small decorator crabs are good at controlling it. I had a hitchiker pair of decorator crabs that recently got into my catch tank. By the time I found them they managed to strip off all the bubbles, (but left the stems), on my botryocladia occidentalis. I now have a really large charlie brown special tree.