Weird algae..

C

ClydesCove

Hi folks sorry I havent been here in awhile.. apparently I'm only going to come around when I need something :)
So anyway, I have this red, bubbly crap thats beginning to grow on the stalks of my corals etc. It's tough, and will peel off in sheets. It kinda looks like red nerds candy. I'ts been ongoing for months, my parameters are good, no phosphates, slightest hint of nitrate.
 
@ClydesCove wrote:
Hi folks sorry I havent been here in awhile.. apparently I'm only going to come around when I need something :) So anyway said:
Pic's would help but sounds like cyanobacteria, which is caused by nutrient buildup i.e. overfeeding or lack of flow. In a new tank it's part of the "new tank syndrome" you see as a tank"comes into it's own" You can try repositioning your powerheads in order to get a better distribution of flow throughout the tank as well as across the sandbed. If you feed and food accuulates in spots then your flow is not correct. What level do you consider a "slight hint of"?? Here some information to help determine if this is what you have. http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/microalgae/a/aa092800.htm

Cheers,
Click to expand...
 
Ok I got some pics, my camera isnt good so it's hard to see just how odd the texture is with this stuff. It's much brighter red than it appears too. It's very thick, with a texture like cartilaginous sponge, sort of- I read somewhere that ripping the bubble type algae will cause spores to be released, and i guess it's too late now but I stopped tearing it out. Regardless its begun to overtake my tank. No way its slime, Ive been through that stuff and with hair algae, this is totally different.
I'm not a hard core reefer, I just dip the strip in and check the color, that being '20' on the test strip. :) The nitrates vary, sometimes they're at zero, and the stuff still grows.
Water temp is 73 degrees, salinity is 102.1(I recently lowered it to see if that would help).
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alt="">From outside of glass.
alt="">You can see the weird bubbles good here.
 
That is weird......I would not trust the test strips, go have a LFS test your water. Most types of "bad" algae's need light and food, something's gotta be feeding this imo.

Cheers,
 
I have a lot of flow, provided by 5 powerheads, a skimmer and a hang-on filter. There aren't any dead areas.. 2 of the powerheads are buried within the rock. The tank is 15 years old and not experiencing growing pains.
 
Ahh.. that's similar to the 'red valonia' that some have seen. I've got some growing in my fuge. Pretty, but I can see how it could get out of control.
 
I also have this stuff, just in this clump.. it's lovely and I dont see ever being a problem. yea the red stuff was pretty and didnt seem like the other algaes so i let it get too far.

This green stuff is smooth and lobed, most of the time, some days, like today it's covered in velvet!
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Weeell actually the stuff in my 40 was in a 55 for ten years, so i was tired of it(i dont like 55's) and got rid of all my tangs and stuck it all in a 30! I wanted to keep more delicate corals and make my rock go further and save space, but that wasn't large enough so I moved it all into the 40 after a year. But hell now my frogspawn are getting so huge I think it's time to move back. Sigh.. I'm so tired of arranging live rock, it's frustrating and shreds your hands. :wink:
I have an empty 120 but I just don't feel like taking care of a reef that size, at this point in my life.
 
It appears to be red valonia, as Ashlar said. Apparently this stuff likes any water conditions.. the emerald crab and rabbitfish eat it.. hm. Guess I'll go invest in one of each.. I need a fish anyway all I have are a couple of chromis right now.
Do you guys think any of the rabbitfish species will do, I'm not just in love with the foxface?
 
Here we are, a few months ago, while the red stuff was still just in tiny patches. I had to take my clownie out becuase he was trying to host in all the corals, and making them sad. :sad:
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Sorry to hijack, but glad I stopped in.

I guess what I thought to be a pretty sponge is some Red Valonia. It's growing only on one piece of liverock and nicely stuck to my Maxijet. Should I try to eliminate it now to avoid an onslaught of algae?
 
I had just a bit on one rock for months, before it exploded in growth recently.. Get rid of it now before it starts expelling spores.

It might, just might, be related to aging lights, mine are.. And my nitrates are at zero.. /shrug.
 
If you know it's just iin one spot, I'd get it out.. If you can, remove the LR to a buckt of SW and scrape it off there, so that any disturbed spores don't go floating off into the tank.
 
Over a year ago, we did a demo in the store using the fish that Ashlar mentioned-the scribbled rabbit. He ate lots of algae off a rock that we put into the tank for him. By the next day, all the algae had been removed.
 
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