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Macro Algae Help


jprime84

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Hey guys, I have had my tank running a few weeks since the end of the cycle. here is a FTS

 

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FTS 9/27 by jprime84, on Flickr

 

My live rock has had a lot of different macro algae coming out of it. I dont know what I should be fighting and what I should be enjoying. Can you identify any of the macro in my FTS?

 

 

Also, my refugium has exploded with macro algae. I added chaeto, and there was some on the LR I put in there, but a lot more has grown. here are two pics. Is any algae bad algae in the refugium?

 

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Refugium macro algae by jprime84, on Flickr

 

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Refugium macro algae by jprime84, on Flickr

 

Btw, nitrates at or very near 0, phosphates at or very near 0

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hair algae may choke out your more desirable macroalgae. Hermits would be safe with the macros you have and would eat hair algae. You may be able to take them out and brush it off too.

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That hairy bright green one is Boodlea, not hair algae.

 

STKkv9fdjchQ.jpg

 

Very cool. Might not be the exact variety, but that's some type of Boodlea.

 

Did this stuff come off of LR? If you got your LR from the pacific, there are all sorts of cool macros that could grow off of them that aren't as well known in the aquarium industry as those from the Gulf/Atlantic.

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Seems to lack the same midrib structure and dichotomous branching present in your picture. Lots of green filamentous algae out there. Hair algae isn't a species, it refers to all filamentous algae. In any event, it is an epiphytic filamentous algae with simple branching characteristics and a thin cell wall. It is a nuisance and you will want to remove it, or at least remove it from the algae it is growing on. Cleaners that would eat hair algae would also eat it.

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Its growing like roots, but with few branches. Then there are thousands of fine hairs along the main roots.

 

 

Just to confirm, remove from my sump?

 

Also, rock supposedly came from gulf. Other than the chaeto, all my algae came from LR.

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I know it isn't quite the same as the first pic, but I didn't want to post Ska's pic if I didn't have to. This was growing in Skabooya's macro tank. Boodlea, just a different variety.

 

DSC_7573.jpg

 

I think it's cool and since it's in your sump I'd keep it.

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Agree to disagree then. :) I don't think it isnt a match to that last one either though. The branching is different, that picture is much more coarse., the scale of the branches are different too, ska's is almost as thick as the prolifera runner next to it, in OP's post the hairs/branchlets etc.. are much finer. I think in the end you will need a microscope or a magnifying glass to get a positive ID, but in the mean time I would remove it.

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I guess I will try to remove what I can. Maybe I can get some close up shots of the structure outside of the tank. I will add a hermit or two to my refugium to keep it at bay afterwards. I have not seen any of it in my display.

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The brown one is Dictoya I think. Some are a pain cause they creep, I could be wrong, but that one looks like one of the non-pain in the ass types. Maybe John will weigh in for sure.

 

I have no clue about the other ones. They look like some form of turf/ hair algae. They look pretty though. Almost like FW plants with their delicate branches. You take very good close-ups ;)

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The brown one is Dictoya I think. Some are a pain cause they creep, I could be wrong, but that one looks like one of the non-pain in the ass types. Maybe John will weigh in for sure.

 

I have no clue about the other ones. They look like some form of turf/ hair algae. They look pretty though. Almost like FW plants with their delicate branches. You take very good close-ups ;)

 

Actually, the 1st one looks like sargassum with the jagged leaves. I believe Dictoya has smooth edges and a rounded, heart shaped end.

 

The second sure looks like hair algae. The third is quite nice looking, but I'm not sure what it is.

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drunkenmonk21
Actually, the 1st one looks like sargassum with the jagged leaves. I believe Dictoya has smooth edges and a rounded, heart shaped end.

 

The second sure looks like hair algae. The third is quite nice looking, but I'm not sure what it is.

 

+1 First one def looks like sargassum, i have some of the third pic in my tank too, not sure what it is, I dont mind it. I just let it grow.

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I agree on the sargassum, branches on dictyota always branch in a Y at the end. The branching green algae looks like it is byropsis, but it seems to branch before there are branchlets, where on byropsis the branchlets come off of the midrib directly, so I dont think it is.

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Update: the hair algae in my second pic has gone. Whether its good water or my hermits, I dont mind either way. The sargassum continues to grow, but I have no problems as long as it doesnt get in the way. I have been pruning the third algae as it has been growing well. It doesnt seem to spread though, just grows from where it is rooted.

 

I also removed the bryopsis(?) green hairy stuff from my refugium, and it hasnt grown back yet. My other macros in there have really taken off since. There is a rubbery red kelp like macro in there that looks very nice, and my chaeto has exploded.

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