Ah! Worst dreams are coming true! Algae in the minibow!

[d9hp]

Ok, last weekend I did a frag swap, and got two little trumpet frags. I put them in the sand, away from other rocks. Regardless of this there is still this brown stringy algae growing pretty rapidly. I am wondering what it is because my zooanthids are partially covered, and I dont know if I should pull it off, or leave it. I also have some green algae starting up, and I am getting a lettuce nudibranch next tuesday, or wednesday when the LFS has a shipment come in.

BTW: I got a cleaning crew for my 5.5 and a pepermint shrimp for the 7. I was worried the shrimp would die lie the others, so I acclimated him for 2 hours, and he is alive today!

 

[reefrunner69]

Ok, last weekend I did a frag swap, and got two little trumpet frags. I put them in the sand, away from other rocks. Regardless of this there is still this brown stringy algae growing pretty rapidly.

Please explain further, is the algae growing on the trumpet? Close to the trumpet? ETC....

I am wondering what it is because my zooanthids are partially covered, and I dont know if I should pull it off, or leave it

Almost cetainly you should remove it, I would use a small diameter hose (like airline tubing) to siphon it off, if that won't get it, gently use a soft bristled toothbrush to remove the agae from the zos. Als a pic of the algae would go along way to IDing it, however I suspect dinoflaggelates at this point from the description.

 

[d9hp]

AHH! Its getting really bad! It is not cyano and is black and stringy. It has covered most of my zoos and some of my polyps. I gotta go in there and pull what I can back. Is there anything I can get to kill it? I need to get my water tested soon, then I might be able to diagnose it a little better. Until then is there anything I can do? I am gonna try and get a decent picture.

 

[d9hp]

heres the picture

 

[fishfreek]

Use a small diamater hose like 1/2" and syphon it out. If you use a small hose and start your syphon and then put the hose close to the algae it should be sucked out rather easily.

 

[d9hp]

Ok thanks, is there any way I can like eliminate it for good?

 

[By-Tor]

What type of reef critter cleaner uppers do you have. You might try getting some different hermits or even a couple of different types of starfish or cucumbers. When was the last time that the bulb was changed....sometimes nasty algae is caused by improper or changing light spectrums.

Another method for removing hair algae is to use a long skinny wooden dowl with a pipe cleaner attached to one end. Wrap the pipe cleaner around the end in a spiral. Then you simply insert and twist at the same time.....hair algae will pull right out. Good luck

 

[d9hp]

STATS!!!

Nitrates- 0

Nitrites- 0

Ammonia- 0

pH- 8.1

SG- 1.0255

 

[reefrunner69]

What's the PO4? It is also not uncommon to have excellent Nitrate and PO4 levels during an algae bloom, they are using it all up to fuel their growth. I still say it's cyano. Increase water changes siphoning it out as you go. Increase nutrient export, decrease nutrient import and increase circulation.

 

[d9hp]

HOLY SMOKES! Its going away!!!

I got my lettuce nudibranch today, and the green stuff is starting up, so things are working out pretty good!