Weird algae taking over

[sydbarrett]

Hi guys, I have this weird GHA looking algae that was on couple of frags that has now taken over my tank. Can any ID it or help with removal.

It looks like GHA but is latched on to the rock harder than bryopsis (which I've dealt with before). On close inspections it is like lawn grass, single stock and has a bit of crunch to it... I don't believe it is turf algae.

I've tried pulling it off the rock but usually the frags its attached to come with it... most of my Zoas are now little balls of free floating polyps/stringy algae.

Here are some pics... Please ignore the GHA which has grown onto of this unknown algae. 

 

 

[banasophia]

Not sure what that is, but here’s a resource you could check out:

 

And tagging @johnmaloney to see if he’s around and may be able to help. He runs ReefCleaners, so if he doesn’t reply here you can always send him a pic through ReefCleaners to see if he can help ID and make suggestions on how to control it. 

[johnmaloney]

Looks like a turf algae, a little more complex than hair algae, thicker cell walls etc.. It will need something with significant cutting power to eat it. Urchins, emerald crabs or above is your best bet, Mexican Turbos may eat it too. There are too many species of turf algae with very few distinguishing characteristics to get a species level ID. A species level ID would need a microscope and a slide book, and they are very hard to come by for marine algae. 

[sydbarrett]

Thanks guys. Very much appreciated.