Is this GHA?

[nocd]

Just looking for a confirmation.  It seems more dense and fibrous that I remember it being.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Pjanssen]

It's really hard to see in those photos. Can you turn the blues down and focus in on the area in question a little more?

[nocd]

Of course, my apologies.

 

 

[Tired]

Huh, that does look odd. I would get on top of that with some good cleaners. 

 

What coral is that in the last pic, on the right? It's weird-looking.

[nocd]

17 hours ago, Tired said:

What coral is that in the last pic, on the right? It's weird-looking.

Its a Galaxea.  The funny thing is, this frag is where this came from. I got it as a pack from WWC.

 

I was also wondering if it could be chaeto.  I've been meaning to call them and ask if they keep it in their frag tanks.  This tank was started with dry rock and chemically cycled.  The only things that I've added were a couple coral packs from WWC, and my watchman/pistol combo from my previous tank, which didn't have any GHA.  I don't want to imply they gave me GHA.  I've been to the store and it's spotless and honestly very impressive.  Like I said, this looks more fibrous to me than I remember GHA being.

 

My primary concern is it could affect the coral, but it doesn't seem to be having any affect on water quality.  My coral is growing nicely (those appears to be extra heads in that last picture).  I have a duncan that's growing crazy too.  The tank is set up with a DOS doing auto water changes every 15 minutes or so equaling ~1.5 gallons a week.  I'll run some tests this weekend, but I've never seen Nitrates or Phosphates go above zero in this tank based on my testing.

[Tired]

It doesn't look like chaeto to me. I'd guess at some sort of turf algae. 

 

Also, I'm pretty sure GHA is sort of ubiquitous in the hobby. I'd be very skeptical that a coral retailer DOESN'T have it present in some amount, even if there's a low enough amount that it's never visible. It's not like it's possible to keep the stuff out, if you ever add anything solid from a tank that's been exposed to algae.

 

You don't actually want 0 nitrates and phosphates. They're probably 0 because the corals and algae are using them up, and eventually the corals are going to hit a point where they aren't getting enough nutrients, and will starve and die. I'd suggest reducing water changes until you see non-zeroes in those. 

[nocd]

I pulled out some of it today and brushed the rock a bit.  It seems hard to scrape off.  I took a picture of one of the larger pieces to help.

[mcarroll]

21 hours ago, nocd said:

I'll run some tests this weekend, but I've never seen Nitrates or Phosphates go above zero in this tank based on my testing.

Stop doing what you're doing to keep nutrients like they are – in a depleted state.  Coralline algae is going to have a tough time competing with another established algae without some nutrients to build with.  👍 

 

Start removing the hair/green algae by hand.....once you let it grow long like this, none of your cleanup crew are likely to eat it.

 

Use your fingers like a pair of tweezers, grab what you are able to by the roots and remove it.  It's possible that will mean one "plantlet" at a time, depending on how it's growing and how strong, big or small your fingers are.  If it seems like too much to do, then only clear a small area in a given work session. Come back later/tomorrow and do another one.  Etc.  Be persistent.

 

While your'e at it, add 2-4 more herbivorous snails...place one in each of the cleared areas so they know about it.

 

If a cleared area grows back, it's because you still don't have enough snails.  Cleanup manually as-needed (snails only eat fuzzy nubbins) and add another small batch of snails.