Nuisance Algae Guide

[5-O Reefer]

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]

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.

Edited February 2, 2010 by johnmaloney

[5-O Reefer]

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]

Thanks! You can find them at:

http://reefcleaners.org/index.php?page=sho...t&Itemid=34

[5-O Reefer]

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]

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]

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]

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.

Edited February 17, 2010 by johnmaloney

[MitchReef]

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]

cool enough, let me know how it goes

[malibumowry]

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]

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.

Edited March 10, 2010 by johnmaloney

[unbeatablebonz]

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

[Mr. Fosi]

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]

+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]

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]

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

[reefer4ever]

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]

anyone know what it is? thanks in advance

[johnmaloney]

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]

thanks

 

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

Edited August 12, 2010 by reefer4ever

[johnmaloney]

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

[gonzalez78]

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]

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]

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

 

Any idea, please:

 

diatoms

green bubble algae

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