Algae ID

[NanoReefMinimalist]

There is a film of light green algae on my rock that is not eaten by any of my snails. Anyone knows what are they and how to get red of them?

[seabass]

I suppose you'd just call it hair algae.  I don't see much other life on the rock, so a peroxide dip (saltwater made from peroxide and salt mix) should kick it.  Note that peroxide can kill pods, worms, and snails too.

[jambon]

Looks like green hair algae. A clean up crew(snails) should graze that back. Time will cure a lot of algae issues. The more food you add to the tank will feed algae just like fertilizing a lawn. It's a balance you need to find as the tank ages.

[NanoReefMinimalist]

I am attaching more pics. I have trochus and astrea snails. They don't eat it.  

[seabass]

The pics are better.  The algae doesn't appear to be anything special.

 

19 hours ago, seabass said:

I don't see much other life on the rock, so a peroxide dip (saltwater made from peroxide and salt mix) should kick it. 

Just remove the snails prior to dipping the rock.   If you are using straight 3% peroxide and salt mix, I'd dip them for about 15 seconds  (swishing the rock around in the peroxide solution).  Then leave the rock exposed to air for about 15 seconds to oxidize.  Finally, rinse the rock in some saltwater prior to returning it to your tank.  You might find that the snails will find the remaining algae more palatable.

 

If you want, prior to the peroxide treatment, you could use a toothbrush or vegetable brush off the algae.  Don't do this in your tank, as you'll just spread the algae around.  Do it in a separate bucket of tank water.

 

If you don't want to use peroxide.  You can still brush off the algae in a separate bucket.  Make sure you rinse off the rock in clean saltwater to get rid of any loose algae prior to returning it to your tank.  You might also try a turbo snail.

[Oldsalt01]

OR, if your tank is big enough (30g+), you could get a Lawnmower Blenny or a Starry Blenny. It will clean that up in no time, plus they are absolute characters. Generally peaceful too.

[NanoReefMinimalist]

3 hours ago, Oldsalt01 said:

OR, if your tank is big enough (30g+), you could get a Lawnmower Blenny or a Starry Blenny. It will clean that up in no time, plus they are absolute characters. Generally peaceful too.

20g only. I tried to plug out the aglae with tweezer. It seems that the aglae has a root into the rock which makes it hard to get out. It is slow growing although. My concern is only preventative.  

[Oldsalt01]

13 hours ago, NanoReefMinimalist said:

20g only. I tried to plug out the aglae with tweezer. It seems that the aglae has a root into the rock which makes it hard to get out. It is slow growing although. My concern is only preventative.  

Algae like this is usually indicative of high Nitrates and/or Phosphates, and that's usually caused by overfeeding (but not always. Sometimes it could be from Phosphates leaching from the rock itself). A 20g could hold a Lawnmower or Starry Blenny if you don't have many other fish (like more than 2-3). They will chug right through the stuff. I put one in my 14g and he started eating the GHA about an hour after he hit town. Unfortunately, he got too big for the tank so I had to swap him out for a Tail-spot, whose not quite as active with the algae but more than makes up for it with personality. Since I've gotten a handle on my nutrient load the algae hasn't been an issue. How old is the tank, and how many fish in there now?

[seabass]

7 minutes ago, Oldsalt01 said:

Sometimes it could be from Phosphates leaching from the rock itself

Quite possible.

[NanoReefMinimalist]

1 hour ago, Oldsalt01 said:

Algae like this is usually indicative of high Nitrates and/or Phosphates, and that's usually caused by overfeeding (but not always. Sometimes it could be from Phosphates leaching from the rock itself). A 20g could hold a Lawnmower or Starry Blenny if you don't have many other fish (like more than 2-3). They will chug right through the stuff. I put one in my 14g and he started eating the GHA about an hour after he hit town. Unfortunately, he got too big for the tank so I had to swap him out for a Tail-spot, whose not quite as active with the algae but more than makes up for it with personality. Since I've gotten a handle on my nutrient load the algae hasn't been an issue. How old is the tank, and how many fish in there now?

I don't think nutrients is the problem. There is almost no sign of other algae. Two small clowns and one cleaner shrimp. I target feed frozen only. Water change every week. No sign of phosphate and nitrate. Nutrients problem typically cause algae boom. This algae I am showing is slow growing. That's what makes me puzzled. I am reduce the light intensity a little to see what happens. 

[Oldsalt01]

Could be the algae is up-taking nutrients before they become detectable. I had that happening last summer in my 14g with the dreaded bubble algae. Once I eradicated it, my nutrient numbers became detectable, and quite impressive they were!

[NanoReefMinimalist]

2 minutes ago, Oldsalt01 said:

Could be the algae is up-taking nutrients before they become detectable. I had that happening last summer in my 14g with the dreaded bubble algae. Once I eradicated it, my nutrient numbers became detectable, and quite impressive they were!

I just put in some phosguard. Let's see what happens. 

 

What troubles me is that my snails don't eat it. They cleaned all other algae in the tank. 

[seabass]

1 hour ago, NanoReefMinimalist said:

No sign of phosphate and nitrate.

You mean, other than a bunch of algae on your rock?

 

Like OldSalt said, the phosphate could be coming from the rock, and the algae could be consuming it, so that you can't detect it in the water column.

 

55 minutes ago, NanoReefMinimalist said:

I just put in some phosguard. Let's see what happens.

Maybe that will help.  If you can't kick it, you might have to resort to peroxide.

 

56 minutes ago, NanoReefMinimalist said:

What troubles me is that my snails don't eat it. They cleaned all other algae in the tank. 

You might try a turbo snail.