Nuisance Algae Guide

[hazmat]

I almost forgot I posted this! The only thing that concerns me about the red flat "paper" algae is that is does spread pretty quickly. And they grow larger in diameter and overlap. I have a large crab in my RSM and the shell he is in has one of these discs on it. If I could get him to change shells I would put him in the new 90 gallon but I DO NOT want this red "whatever" kind of algae in the new tank. It will be on every rock in no time. I'm really trying to keep as much stuff out as I can.

 

That's why I'm trying to decide what to do with a bunch of my corals. I have that Gelidium on a lot of frags! My green Palau leather base is covered in it. I would have to cut the leather completely off the base and then how do I reattach it to something?

[johnmaloney]

my pacific books come in next week. it is about time i got around to it. Where is your rock from again? If you already told me I apologize it is late.

[johnmaloney]

nevermind I got it. It is one of the Peyssonnelia sp. Encrusting coralline. The pic I have here is a dead on match. let me google you one.

 

 

soemthing like this:

 

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...QA5PEtgfp4tnaAw

 

But the one in this book looks much closer. lot of species in that family apparently.

[southernfried]

FWIW on the bryopsis...

 

I had a bloom shortly after my cycle. I added a moderate cleanup crew, which included two larger mexican turbos. The mexican turbos are absolutely devouring the stuff and after a new light in my halide fixture and three days they are starting to catch up. I am running a large skimmer on my 29 gallon tank and this too has helped a lot by noticeably slowing its spread. I am pretty sure that with 3 more mexican turbos this is a fight I could win without assaulting my tank manually.

[hazmat]

nevermind I got it. It is one of the Peyssonnelia sp. Encrusting coralline. The pic I have here is a dead on match. let me google you one.

 

 

soemthing like this:

 

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...QA5PEtgfp4tnaAw

 

But the one in this book looks much closer. lot of species in that family apparently.

 

That looks VERY similar. Same shape, size. The only difference I would say is that (in the picture) it looks a little thicker and mine will overlap but it conforms more to the rock. So some of the edged do lift off but not quite as much as the picture. But I will assume that this picture is a more mature colony and has time to form differently? It could very well be the same. And like you said I'm sure there are many species in that family. I'll have to get a picture of my crab shell for you!

Thanks for all your hard work on this thread. A really good resource!

[johnmaloney]

the species i have iin a copyrighted picture i can't upload is dead on though. didn't even know I hada coralline guide. Wow there are a lot of species of coralline. A whole lot. (Plus it says with this species flaking does come later like you said).

 

Hey southerfried, happy to hear the turbos ate your GHA, wasn't byropsis though. Good thing, nightmare to fight, turbos, emeralds, etc.. don't really eat it.

Edited March 25, 2009 by johnmaloney

[hazmat]

I was gonna say that about the Bryopsis but you know better than me. I got rid of my Bryopsis by upping my Mag to 1650. It's taken about 2 weeks but it's all but gone. A few single strings here and there on some rock but it could very well be a different algae. I can't believe I actually defeated it

 

Thank God for that Bryopsis thread!!

[johnmaloney]

no that is probably right, mag puts a hurting on both GHA and byropsis. I am sorry I am confused now. What are we talking about? Forget it...I am going to bed! Been a long night.

Edited March 25, 2009 by johnmaloney

[Mr. Fosi]

You know, my GHA went away when I started using the NSW I am not using... I tested the water the other day and carries more 1500 ppm Mg.

[johnmaloney]

feel much better. nothing like a 2 hour nap. where were we... oh man using water you aren't using?...maybe I need another hour.

 

GHA seems to die off from an increase in mag, but if it forms in a high mag environment it holds on. That is how my customers have explained their problem with it to me, so it is a bit anecdotal. Would be nice to have everyone's calk/alk/mag params to notice possible patterns, but that is a job better left for Mr Fosi. I will take the results though sir.

[Mr. Fosi]

 

I guess I pulled a "platonic" on ya.

 

Both "Lab" and "Home" are fed by "NSW" though I water it down for the home tank.

 

Home (30 ppt)

-----

Ca (salifert) - 330 ppm

Ca (AP) - 380 ppm

Alk - 8.6-9.0 dKH (3.09-3.20 meq/L)

Mg - 1520 ppm

 

Lab (35 ppt)

---

Ca (salifert) - 350 ppm

Ca (AP) - 380-400 ppm

Alk - 7.4-7.7 dKH (2.63-2.74 meq/L)

Mg - ~1590 ppm

 

NSW (39 ppt)

---

Ca (salifert) - 340 ppm

Ca (AP) - 400 ppm

Alk - 9.6-9.9 dKH (3.43-3.54 meq/L)

Mg - ~1710 ppm

[nematoad]

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.

[johnmaloney]

iridescent dictyota for your little sister, haven't included it in the guide, but it is in the thread somewhere I think. lots of dictyota sp., you need microscopes for species identification. Basically with dictyota, if it doesn't grow up from a single holdfast and creeps along the rock, it is invasive.

Edited March 26, 2009 by johnmaloney

[johnmaloney]

 

I guess I pulled a "platonic" on ya.

 

 

So higher mag and alk? Which is the one that did better. Lab or Home? Both? Any other inputs.

 

nematoad - first one looks like like one of the Cladophoropsis species. I don't have much experience with them, just know they are out there. May not be right...20% on that? Could also be one of the chaeto species, only like 2 in the hobby, (crassa and linum - I have both right now - hey had to throw in a plug ) And like 15 others in FL alone I think, maybe more.

Edited March 26, 2009 by johnmaloney

[Mr. Fosi]

I only ever had hair algae in my home tank, the lab is already infested with caulerpas and Callithamnion.

 

What urchins will eat caulerpa?

[Urchinhead]

I believe a tuxedo as well as a long spine will possibly take a whack at caulerpa but it is very much hit or miss. The stuff is pretty hard to digest for most species as I recall and in some cases is toxic so they tend to avoid it.

[johnmaloney]

I only ever had hair algae in my home tank, the lab is already infested with caulerpas and Callithamnion.

 

What urchins will eat caulerpa?

 

pretty much any. What kind of caulerpa?) sea hares too, emerald crabs... all the non macro safe cleaners will eat it, Tangs devour it. All this nothing eats caulerpa talk that used to go on I think had to do with regular cleaners not getting it. Some urchins are bulldozers though, will attach things to themselves too for camo etc... The pin cushions are the worst that way. Never had one that didn't want to wear ever algae in the tank. Pencils aren't as bad because their clubs don't do much damage, aren't poison tipped and they can't camo themselves. They slack on caulerpa prolifera though.

Edited March 30, 2009 by johnmaloney

[Mr. Fosi]

I'm toying with the idea of trying some methods to reduce/remove the caulerpas (racemosa, prolifera, serrulata) from my lab tank.

 

Obviously weeding will do the most damage in the shortest amout of time but I am wondering what organisms I could add in to keep it down and perhaps help eliminate it.

 

I know it's a long-shot but it would be a neat thing to try so long as it didn't turn expensive.

Edited March 26, 2009 by Mr. Fosi

[johnmaloney]

what does your LFS carry? Shipping for one animal is probably the hard part. Weetie will have a sea hare to pay forward soon. She got one for caulerpa too, it will be done with her tank in probably 3 weeks I think.

[The Propagator]

EXCELLENT POST JOHN !!!

[johnmaloney]

Thank you Prop!

[Mr. Fosi]

Weetie will have a sea hare to pay forward soon. She got one for caulerpa too, it will be done with her tank in probably 3 weeks I think.

 

I wonder if she already has it subscribed... With seahares, is it an eradication or will there still be some post-sea hare weeding to do?

[johnmaloney]

depends on how long you keep them at it before feeding them. I wanted to get her a flying sea hare, (so cool), but a guy studying them called me out on" I will send you some when I get it" so she got a spotted sea hare. (I kind of had that deal with her to, so I am scared to email here. The one I sent will do the trick though Weetie!) Haven't heard back from her, I should pm her at some point. The spotted sea hare is a little smaller, but yeah it will put a hurt on caulerpa.

Edited March 30, 2009 by johnmaloney

[NanoReefNovice]

Thanks John for helping me ID this as cotton candy algae (callithamnion)

 

 

There are a few different algae on this shot, not sure what it mainly consists of.

 

 

Feel free to use these photos if they help.

Edited April 8, 2009 by NanoReefNovice

[Nick's Reef]

John, I've got dinoflangates all over my foam wall, what should I do to get rid of it, I can't take it out of the tank. It's probably from the eggcrate leaching crap. I started dosing a crabon source (brightwell biofuel) to get rid of n and p, also dosing bacteria to speed up the process. I'm going to try to blast it all off and do a wc then maybe a 3 black out, which normally took care of cyano when I had it.