What is this algae and how do I get rid of it

[Pipefish 2]

Hi there

started seeing this algae in my 20 gallon macro algae tank and was wondering how to get rid of it. I think its diatoms but I’m not sure. 
many thanks 

 

[Zer0]

Looks like diatoms to me, which is normal progression for new aquariums. Should go away on its own over time, but you can get a cleanup crew to clean it up for you. Nassarius snails would work great for fine sand like what you have. My hermit crabs also pick at it and just by dragging their shells along it breaks it up. You can also use a turkey baster and blow it in to the water column for your filter to catch, or you can siphon it out when doing water changes.

[Pipefish 2]

Is this still the case if the tank has been up and running for several months 

[Zer0]

Hmm, that's a little less typical, but diatoms can still show up at any point if the conditions are right.

 

What type of sand is this? Did you rinse the sand before putting it in? If yes, did you rinse it with ro/di water or with tap water?

 

What kind of flow do you have in your tank? Roughly how much gph?

 

Also, if you aim a powerhead or use a turkey baster to blow directly on the algae, does it dissipate like a powdery substance, or does it stick to the sand/rocks?

[mcarroll]

16 hours ago, Pipefish 2 said:

Hi there

started seeing this algae in my 20 gallon macro algae tank and was wondering how to get rid of it. I think its diatoms but I’m not sure. 
many thanks 

 

 

12 hours ago, Pipefish 2 said:

Is this still the case if the tank has been up and running for several months 

Could you post all of the important usual test results that you have (ca, alk, mg, no3, po4, pH, temp., salinity) along with any relevant info about your tank?  (ie what happened over those "several months"?)  👍  

 

Even better –  if you have a microscope (even a toy microscope) get photos of an algae sample through it and post them too.

 

It's hard to speculate from just a picture like this – without knowing what else is in the tank, what you're doing to keep those macro algae alive, etc.  

 

Yes it's an algae bloom.  Could be diatoms or dino's.

 

 

[Pipefish 2]

I used red sea’s live sand so I didn’t rinse it. I’m using the stock pump which is 264gph. When I blow on it with a turkey baster it disapates in a powdery substance. My lights are on for 8 hours a day. I do a weekly 10-15 percent water change. For stocking I have a pair of clowns and a blue striped pipefish. In the two months that the fish have been in I have only had to feed them 3 times because I seeded the tank very early on with a lot of copipods and amphipods etc and then the tank sat empty for 2-3 months so it’s very mature. For some reason the algae hasn’t so much as touched the rocks and instead sticks to the sand bed. 

 

my parameters 

 

nitrate less than 0

phosphate non existent 

temperature 23-24 degrees Celsius 

Salinity 1.023 

[Xj reefing]

You want to raise your nitrates, phosphate slightly and get your salinity up to 1.26ppt

[Pipefish 2]

Do you think this would make a big difference to the algae and if so what would be the best way to increase my nitrate and phosphate 

[mcarroll]

On 3/24/2021 at 6:33 AM, Pipefish 2 said:

I used red sea’s live sand so I didn’t rinse it. I’m using the stock pump which is 264gph. When I blow on it with a turkey baster it disapates in a powdery substance. My lights are on for 8 hours a day. I do a weekly 10-15 percent water change. For stocking I have a pair of clowns and a blue striped pipefish. In the two months that the fish have been in I have only had to feed them 3 times because I seeded the tank very early on with a lot of copipods and amphipods etc and then the tank sat empty for 2-3 months so it’s very mature. For some reason the algae hasn’t so much as touched the rocks and instead sticks to the sand bed. 

 

my parameters 

 

nitrate less than 0

phosphate non existent 

These two being zero would suggest a dinoflagellate bloom rather than a diatom bloom or something else.  (Also makes me wonder what is your plan for keeping those plants alive?)

 

Can you get a sample of the algae in a vial, shake it to bits, then leave it under lights (tank lights if possible) for a while.  Dino's will re-converge into a mass.  Other algae will just stay in bits.  If you can get a microscopic look at them, even better as we might be able to tell precisely what it is.  (even a toy scope....$12 on eBay)

 

On 3/24/2021 at 6:33 AM, Pipefish 2 said:

temperature 23-24 degrees Celsius 

Salinity 1.023 

That's pretty cold if you're trying for a tropical tank.  Shoot for at least 26ºC....as high as 33ºC would be acceptable.

 

Salinity may be fine there...honestly not sure how particular your algae will be.

[Pipefish 2]

This is as magnified as I could get it with what I have. 

[mcarroll]

Interesting photos....any idea what magnification level that is?  How big are those grains of sand?

 

Without knowing, guessing is still hard.  But the symmetrical shapes reminds me of diatoms.

 

Could you detect any movement?

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

On 3/23/2021 at 8:07 AM, Pipefish 2 said:

Hi there

started seeing this algae in my 20 gallon macro algae tank and was wondering how to get rid of it. I think its diatoms but I’m not sure. 
many thanks 

 

Those are diatoms, and like others have talked about part of life.  What does that mean?  Not only will new tanks usually spark this to happen, when the balances between lighting periods change, nutrients change or water conditions change, this can occur anytime even in mature tanks.

 

It is not going to kill fish or corals, but just look unpleasant and compete with what ever other organisms you have in there that require phosphates and/or nitrates.

 

I just started a new tank, January 27th  2021 so 2 months old.  The diatoms came to my tank, but not like yours and here is why?

 

I have an Nero3 on the back of my 12 gallon cube, which prevents them from attaching to the rocks or sand bed,  I also have a refugium growing Macro algae that is taking off like crazy.  I need to prone it once every 2 weeks.  I will post pictures later for you to see the difference in the cheato alone. 

 

I am cycled live rock purchased from online vendor so the diatoms have a very hard time trying to attach themselves over cured live rock that is booming with outer life, no room for vacancy. 

 

I also will vacuum the sand once every two weeks and also that breaks up the diatoms.

 

They are on corners of my acrylic tank and in between the sand tank, but I clean them out every 5 days do keep them from spreading.  

 

You will get your tank back 100 percent as soon as you tip the balance back in your favor.

 

I have been reefing since 1991, so I have experience in seeing the diatoms explode in a tank and than also disappear as quickly as they came!  

 

Hope that helps you a little. 

[mmbaba]

So I was reading this thread last night (I've been chasing algae problems for about 8 weeks that I think are diatoms) and I decided to try the turkey baster trick to give them a little blast. Sure enough, I saw a bunch of almost white dust move up in to the water column which will hopefully be handled by my filter pretty quickly (there was a lot of it).

 

Question though, is this type of 'dust' expected and is it likely to harm the livestock while it's circulating?

 

Right now, I haven't found a better way to keep this algae under control, I was siphoning off the top layer for the last couple of weeks but I'm going through a lot of water and substrate that way, the turkey blaster appears to be more cost effective...

 

Thanks!

[Zer0]

White or grey dust sounds like detritus to me, and depending on its stage of decomposition could cause an ammonia spike if you disturb too much of it all at once. Ideally your cleanup crew should be handling that and any extra/uneaten food so it doesn’t accumulate and build up to be a problem. If you have large buildups, I would recommend siphoning it out during water changes, not basting it into the water column for your filter to handle. 

[mmbaba]

So I thought it was diatoms but after the ‘dust’ cleared up and things settled back down the following day, I was able to capture this video that shows algae swaying in the current.

 

The video turned out way too blue, the color of the ‘strands’ are brown and while there’s not a lot of it now, I’ve seen more in the past. I’m not seeing bubbles on the end like some images I’ve seen in this forum about ‘snot’ algae. So apparently I can't post videos so here's a screenshot of the video, red lines indicate the algae which is difficult to see as a photo, much easier in the video... doh!
 

I’ve blocked out as much natural daylight as I can and that seems to have slowed the spread. 
 

Any ideas what this is? 

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

40 minutes ago, mmbaba said:

So I thought it was diatoms but after the ‘dust’ cleared up and things settled back down the following day, I was able to capture this video that shows algae swaying in the current.

 

The video turned out way too blue, the color of the ‘strands’ are brown and while there’s not a lot of it now, I’ve seen more in the past. I’m not seeing bubbles on the end like some images I’ve seen in this forum about ‘snot’ algae. So apparently I can't post videos so here's a screenshot of the video, red lines indicate the algae which is difficult to see as a photo, much easier in the video... doh!
 

I’ve blocked out as much natural daylight as I can and that seems to have slowed the spread. 
 

Any ideas what this is? 

Did you mention the specs on the tank bio?  Did I miss it?  You need to give the bio and then I can help you.

[mmbaba]

Thanks @Micro-Reefs Aquariums, I have the API Freshwater test kit from another tank but the Saltwater test card hasn't arrived yet. Some simple test strips show Nitrite / Nitrate is under control and PH is a little under 8 but I know they aren't accurate enough to be much help. I'm waiting for some proper test kit pieces to arrive so I don't have much more to share at the moment but I will update as soon as I am able - thanks.

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

26 minutes ago, mmbaba said:

Thanks @Micro-Reefs Aquariums, I have the API Freshwater test kit from another tank but the Saltwater test card hasn't arrived yet. Some simple test strips show Nitrite / Nitrate is under control and PH is a little under 8 but I know they aren't accurate enough to be much help. I'm waiting for some proper test kit pieces to arrive so I don't have much more to share at the moment but I will update as soon as I am able - thanks.

When did you start the tank, what did you place inside, sand, rocks how much, from where, what fish, inverts, when did you place how many, where did you get them, did you acclimate them, what light do you use, what is the photo period, what current do you have, powerheads or just return pump, do you run a chiller, a UV, an algae scrubber, how big is your tank, what water do you use, do you buy it made, what do you feed, how often, to whom, how often do you do water changes, what was the last thing you placed in the tank, when you got the algae that you want identified?

 

Okay, you have some homework, get one it!  So we all will come to your rescue, if I missed anything, please other reefers let us help out mmbaba the new community member.

 

Thanks,

 

Mike G

[mmbaba]

15 hours ago, Micro-Reefs Aquariums said:

When did you start the tank, what did you place inside, sand, rocks how much, from where, what fish, inverts, when did you place how many, where did you get them, did you acclimate them, what light do you use, what is the photo period, what current do you have, powerheads or just return pump, do you run a chiller, a UV, an algae scrubber, how big is your tank, what water do you use, do you buy it made, what do you feed, how often, to whom, how often do you do water changes, what was the last thing you placed in the tank, when you got the algae that you want identified?

 

Okay, you have some homework, get one it!  So we all will come to your rescue, if I missed anything, please other reefers let us help out mmbaba the new community member.

 

Thanks,

 

Mike G

Ha! I Love it - and there was me thinking I could get away with asking 'a simple question' and expect you guys to solve it all for me - I appreciate you keeping me honest - seriously.

Let me add some context early and then attempt to answer your questions (in blue);

 

First off, I have already broken a number of noob nano-tank rules;

I'm inpatient, I haven't done enough research (yet), I found this forum too late but I'm a quick learner and when I put my mind to something, I intend to do it properly, and most importantly, I have a patient wife (for the time being...). 

 

So then, to the questions at hand...

When did you start the tank - Dec 2020, Fluval Evo 13.5, what did you place inside, sand, rocks - 1 bag of CaribSea Reef Sand (20lbs) and appprox 8lbs of dry live rock from LFS, cycled for approx 2 weeks with live bacteria and a few prawn from the freezer (I tried to rush) how much, from where, what fish, - after two weeks I added 2x small clowns and 1x RFA (because I am weak and didn't know what it was but the LFS said it would be cool), 2 weeks after that I added 1x head of hammer Euphyllia and a small piece of Seriatopora Green Tip Birdsnest coral - this is where it went wrong, the tank in the LFS that I purchased from had algae, I asked about it at the time but was told it would be ok, I bought some iodine based dip to treat it at home before putting my tank but within days of introducing, there was algae starting to grow in my tank 😞 inverts, when did you place how many, where did you get them, - didn't add any inverts until about 6-8 weeks in (after the algae from the birdsnest coral was introduced), was 1x Astrea, 1x Margarita, 1x Emerald Green Crab (side note:- I ended up returning 'a dead crab' 2 days after acclimation only to learn that it had simply shed it's endoskeleton within 36 hours of landing in my tank and was hiding, so with the replacement, I now have 2x Emerald Green Crab ('Bruiser' and 'Freeloader'). I added a cleaner shrimp about 3 weeks ago which is great fun! did you acclimate them - yes - drip method for about 1 hour, what light do you use - stock Fluval 13.5 LED until about 3 weeks ago when I switched to an AI Prime 16HD Reef, largely following the BRS AB+ settings, what is the photo period - the photo was taken approx 24 hours after my 'turkey blaster' escapade on 04/01 (see thread comment above), since reducing the natural light (keeping the blinds closed) and reducing the red/green and soft white in the AI Prime, the Algae has been slower to return, what current do you have, powerheads or just return pump, - I replaced the stock return pump with Tunze 1073.008 and attached an RFG from VCA, I also replaced the stock Fluval filter system with some custom media baskets (that I'm pretty proud of, will post photos later) akin to the inTank baskets for chamber 1 and 2, I have filter floss, Chemi-pure Elite and some biofiltration media, do you run a chiller - no, temp is 78.1, a UV, an algae scrubber - No, although I do have an air pump located at the return pump inlet active for 15 min at 4am each day (I saw a video telling me that this was a good idea, tell me it's bad and I'll switch it off...), how big is your tank - 13.5g, what water do you use - started with Imagitarium Pacific Ocean Water and have been refilling with salt water from LFS although any fresh water I've added has been tap water treated with Seachem safe water solution (RO/DI is in the Amazon Prime holding tank), do you buy it made, what do you feed, - small amount of PE Saltwater Pellets by Piscine Energetics how often, - once or twice per day (more recently, once per day or less) to whom - Clowns only, on the rare occasion that they miss something, Jameson (the cleaner shrimp) has it, how often do you do water changes - once per week, at least 25%, what was the last thing you placed in the tank - Zoas and some Candy Cane coral - no change in tank behavior, when you got the algae that you want identified? - I believe it came with the Birdsnest Coral - the LFS said it was to be expected and would eventually disappear.

 

I have the API Freshwater test kit reagents now with the Saltwater color card in the mail on the way, I also have some NYOS reef test kits on the way so I'll have some better info soon but for the time being, this is all I've got. 

 

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR 🙂

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

5 hours ago, mmbaba said:

Ha! I Love it - and there was me thinking I could get away with asking 'a simple question' and expect you guys to solve it all for me - I appreciate you keeping me honest - seriously.

Let me add some context early and then attempt to answer your questions (in blue);

 

First off, I have already broken a number of noob nano-tank rules;

I'm inpatient, I haven't done enough research (yet), I found this forum too late but I'm a quick learner and when I put my mind to something, I intend to do it properly, and most importantly, I have a patient wife (for the time being...). 

 

So then, to the questions at hand...

When did you start the tank - Dec 2020, Fluval Evo 13.5, what did you place inside, sand, rocks - 1 bag of CaribSea Reef Sand (20lbs) and appprox 8lbs of dry live rock from LFS, cycled for approx 2 weeks with live bacteria and a few prawn from the freezer (I tried to rush) how much, from where, what fish, - after two weeks I added 2x small clowns and 1x RFA (because I am weak and didn't know what it was but the LFS said it would be cool), 2 weeks after that I added 1x head of hammer Euphyllia and a small piece of Seriatopora Green Tip Birdsnest coral - this is where it went wrong, the tank in the LFS that I purchased from had algae, I asked about it at the time but was told it would be ok, I bought some iodine based dip to treat it at home before putting my tank but within days of introducing, there was algae starting to grow in my tank 😞 inverts, when did you place how many, where did you get them, - didn't add any inverts until about 6-8 weeks in (after the algae from the birdsnest coral was introduced), was 1x Astrea, 1x Margarita, 1x Emerald Green Crab (side note:- I ended up returning 'a dead crab' 2 days after acclimation only to learn that it had simply shed it's endoskeleton within 36 hours of landing in my tank and was hiding, so with the replacement, I now have 2x Emerald Green Crab ('Bruiser' and 'Freeloader'). I added a cleaner shrimp about 3 weeks ago which is great fun! did you acclimate them - yes - drip method for about 1 hour, what light do you use - stock Fluval 13.5 LED until about 3 weeks ago when I switched to an AI Prime 16HD Reef, largely following the BRS AB+ settings, what is the photo period - the photo was taken approx 24 hours after my 'turkey blaster' escapade on 04/01 (see thread comment above), since reducing the natural light (keeping the blinds closed) and reducing the red/green and soft white in the AI Prime, the Algae has been slower to return, what current do you have, powerheads or just return pump, - I replaced the stock return pump with Tunze 1073.008 and attached an RFG from VCA, I also replaced the stock Fluval filter system with some custom media baskets (that I'm pretty proud of, will post photos later) akin to the inTank baskets for chamber 1 and 2, I have filter floss, Chemi-pure Elite and some biofiltration media, do you run a chiller - no, temp is 78.1, a UV, an algae scrubber - No, although I do have an air pump located at the return pump inlet active for 15 min at 4am each day (I saw a video telling me that this was a good idea, tell me it's bad and I'll switch it off...), how big is your tank - 13.5g, what water do you use - started with Imagitarium Pacific Ocean Water and have been refilling with salt water from LFS although any fresh water I've added has been tap water treated with Seachem safe water solution (RO/DI is in the Amazon Prime holding tank), do you buy it made, what do you feed, - small amount of PE Saltwater Pellets by Piscine Energetics how often, - once or twice per day (more recently, once per day or less) to whom - Clowns only, on the rare occasion that they miss something, Jameson (the cleaner shrimp) has it, how often do you do water changes - once per week, at least 25%, what was the last thing you placed in the tank - Zoas and some Candy Cane coral - no change in tank behavior, when you got the algae that you want identified? - I believe it came with the Birdsnest Coral - the LFS said it was to be expected and would eventually disappear.

 

I have the API Freshwater test kit reagents now with the Saltwater color card in the mail on the way, I also have some NYOS reef test kits on the way so I'll have some better info soon but for the time being, this is all I've got. 

 

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR 🙂

 

 

Excellent bio,

 

All Reefers, please help chime in to help us out.  The bio is pointing at the birdsnest that had algae as hitchhiker that gotten out of control.  Do you know your nitrates or phosphates?  I am assuming alongside the new lighting and the maturing of the tank, the algae got the better hand of this scenario .

 

Do you have any archived pictures of the tank in it's early stages and today or as the problem grew with algae.  I want to see a good picture of your tank, without the blue it's hard to see it.  Once I see it, I might be able to get it identified.

 

I have two options that I will talk about.

 

Let us get the pics if you have them.

 

Thanks,

 

MG

[mmbaba]

3 hours ago, Micro-Reefs Aquariums said:

Excellent bio,

 

All Reefers, please help chime in to help us out.  The bio is pointing at the birdsnest that had algae as hitchhiker that gotten out of control.  Do you know your nitrates or phosphates?  I am assuming alongside the new lighting and the maturing of the tank, the algae got the better hand of this scenario .

 

Do you have any archived pictures of the tank in it's early stages and today or as the problem grew with algae.  I want to see a good picture of your tank, without the blue it's hard to see it.  Once I see it, I might be able to get it identified.

 

I have two options that I will talk about.

 

Let us get the pics if you have them.

 

Thanks,

 

MG

Shamefully, I don't seem to have many early photos of the whole tank but I do have a few of the pieces in the tank. This is a screenshot from a video I took of the birds nest soon after it arrived (I haven't figured out how to add / link videos yet which do a much better job of showing the issue - algae swaying in the current). You can see on the right side and top that it looks a little unwell and this is where the majority of the algae (stringy stuff) was attached, I removed most that I could but it was very fine and I couldn't figure a better way of removing it without damaging the coral. It multiplied on the birds nest pretty quickly before spreading to the rest of the tank.

 

The next photo shows the early onset of the algae in the tank both on the substrate and the rocks (small brown spots). 

 

Then it spread to this and started to get quite a lot worse;

 

The next photo was really focusing on the RFA (which is awesome) but by now the birds nest has been in the tank for about 8-10 weeks and although it's washed out in blue, you can see that the majority of the substrate (which should be white under those lights) is mostly dark (from the algae). Shortly after this photo was taken I added the new return pump and RFG so was able to remove the pump head you see in the back left corner.

 

When it's bad, the brown covers all of the substrate and most of the rocks, the CUC can't keep up. The heaviest patches appear to have 'strings' that wave in the current, approx one inch long (similar to what I saw in the LFS when I purchased the birds nest) but they do not have the air bubble at the end that I've seen in other pictures that seem to refer to 'snot algae' or bacteria.

 

Since starting to use this forum to determine what's going on (a little over a week) I've reduced the red/green/soft white in the new light and shut down some of the natural daylight reaching the tank, as well as the (now infamous) turkey baster incident (and scrubbed the rocks with a toothbrush) and things seems to be getting better so I'm not as worried as I was a week ago but I'd certainly appreciate your thoughts as I'm sure this is not over.

 

Thanks again for reading...

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

3 hours ago, mmbaba said:

Shamefully, I don't seem to have many early photos of the whole tank but I do have a few of the pieces in the tank. This is a screenshot from a video I took of the birds nest soon after it arrived (I haven't figured out how to add / link videos yet which do a much better job of showing the issue - algae swaying in the current). You can see on the right side and top that it looks a little unwell and this is where the majority of the algae (stringy stuff) was attached, I removed most that I could but it was very fine and I couldn't figure a better way of removing it without damaging the coral. It multiplied on the birds nest pretty quickly before spreading to the rest of the tank.

 

The next photo shows the early onset of the algae in the tank both on the substrate and the rocks (small brown spots). 

 

Then it spread to this and started to get quite a lot worse;

 

The next photo was really focusing on the RFA (which is awesome) but by now the birds nest has been in the tank for about 8-10 weeks and although it's washed out in blue, you can see that the majority of the substrate (which should be white under those lights) is mostly dark (from the algae). Shortly after this photo was taken I added the new return pump and RFG so was able to remove the pump head you see in the back left corner.

 

When it's bad, the brown covers all of the substrate and most of the rocks, the CUC can't keep up. The heaviest patches appear to have 'strings' that wave in the current, approx one inch long (similar to what I saw in the LFS when I purchased the birds nest) but they do not have the air bubble at the end that I've seen in other pictures that seem to refer to 'snot algae' or bacteria.

 

Since starting to use this forum to determine what's going on (a little over a week) I've reduced the red/green/soft white in the new light and shut down some of the natural daylight reaching the tank, as well as the (now infamous) turkey baster incident (and scrubbed the rocks with a toothbrush) and things seems to be getting better so I'm not as worried as I was a week ago but I'd certainly appreciate your thoughts as I'm sure this is not over.

 

Thanks again for reading...

You describe and show the progression very detailed description.  It seems you are doing the right, thing in fighting the algae and you will win but it will take all that you are doing and patience.  It definetly came from the birdsnet, also has the BS come out more, the polyps are they fully fuzzy?  They are not in the picture?

 

The LFS, should not have sold you that BS, that was bad business and you should remember that, remove him from your purchase group.  BRS talks about honesty and good husbandry in this hobby and that goes to the LFS as it applies to us.

 

Make sure you starve out the nutrients in your tank, also if you had a small UV, it would do a lot to help the battle curve in your favor.  UV is a plus to help not cure this situation.  Your rocks populated the algae since you don't have real live rock, there was competition for real estate and that algae can get quicker than coral line growth.

 

Keep us updated.

 

 

[mmbaba]

On 4/3/2021 at 1:19 PM, Micro-Reefs Aquariums said:

You describe and show the progression very detailed description.  It seems you are doing the right, thing in fighting the algae and you will win but it will take all that you are doing and patience.  It definetly came from the birdsnet, also has the BS come out more, the polyps are they fully fuzzy?  They are not in the picture?

 

The LFS, should not have sold you that BS, that was bad business and you should remember that, remove him from your purchase group.  BRS talks about honesty and good husbandry in this hobby and that goes to the LFS as it applies to us.

 

Make sure you starve out the nutrients in your tank, also if you had a small UV, it would do a lot to help the battle curve in your favor.  UV is a plus to help not cure this situation.  Your rocks populated the algae since you don't have real live rock, there was competition for real estate and that algae can get quicker than coral line growth.

 

Keep us updated.

 

 

I'm back! (and so is the algae....) but I'm keeping it under control with weekly water changes and substrate vacuuming. However, the 'long stringy' bits are back and much longer than before so I switched off the blue LEDs and went to full whites to get some pictures and I was pretty surprised to see that there is a lot of green algae in the tank, I couldn't see this at all with the blue lights on daily.

 

Anyway, first question - here is a picture of the 'long stringy' algae on the bottom. The red circle shows where it's attached to the sand and the red line shows 'the string', it waves around in the current and is about 4" long. There are a number of them anchored to the sand around the tank, this is the longest I could find - they appeared at some point in the last 48 hours. My water parameters are at the bottom;

 

And here are some pictures of the tank in white light, see how much green there is! Do you guys think this is related to the 'long stringy' algae or is it something different?

 

 

 

Water Parameters (water is about 5-6 days old);

Temp = 78.3 (F)

Salinity = 1.026

pH = 8.2 (API)

Ammonia = 0 (API)

Nitrite = 0 (API)

Nitrate = 0 (API)

Alkalinity = 7 dkH (NYOS)

Calcium = 345 (NYOS)

 

I know the API kits aren't the most accurate, but they are what I have for the moment. I also know I'm missing a few test kits but they aren't cheap - if there's something critical to this issue that I don't have, let me know.

 

Thanks in advance!