Strange Algae Growths...

[cybercron]

Hello,

I have been experiencing an unusual amount of algae growth and have been unable to eradicate it. The algae seems to be reddish and grows in little dots all over the tank. In the attached picture I have also spotted a green plant like groth on one of my liverocks.

Maybe someone cound identify it and give me an idea as to what I am up against. I have tried TLC, NutraSea Marine clarifyer, Coralife Marine Clarifyer, and a red slime specific algaecide with no luck.


Thanks,

Van

 

[d9hp]

It looks like bubble algae. I think an emerald crab would eat it up.

 

[michealprater]

Green bubble algae and red cyanobacteria.

How much flow and actinic light do you have in the areas of heaviest growth?

 

[Hara]

Just in case no one has mentioned it, using chemicals to remove the cyano is a bad bad idea. It will just prolong your problems..yes, it will look better short term, but the antibiotics in it will kill off your good bacteria as well.

 

[cybercron]

Here is my setup in terms of flow and lighting:

2x 65W Actinic
2x 65W 10,000K

I have a Aquaclear 402 for circulation along with an Emperor 400 biowheel. I also have a Aquaclear 301 going through a UV serilizer and a fluidized bed, which provides some movement. In the middle of the tank I have a Prism protein skimmer that also provides flow. It seems like the growths are in areas that have decent water movement.

Maybe it is the lights. I let the lights run about 10 hours a day.

I hate adding chemicals, so if there is a biological removal method let me know. BTW I have four red legged hermit crabs and four giant mexican snails.

Van

 

[Guest]

Could be bubble algae and it doesn't neccessarily have to be cyano. If you have put the Cyano algaecide in there and it didn't go away, it is not cyano...Is it slimy or whisps away when touched? If not, there is coralline algae tht is a dark burgandy color as well as a brownish color. It doesn't always have to be the pretty pinks, purples, and greens. I have to say, I fell for the cyno killer and it works great but, there is no telling what other damage I caused. I see no ill effects yet.

Good luck

 

[BlueAbyss]

we have bubble algea, it isn't hurting anything in our tank and has been there a long time. I've heard people say that it took over their tanks, but ours stays in a small clump and adds some visual interest. When the clump gets bigger we break some off and throw it away. a lot of people, even pet stores around here, have had a bad time with the cyano. It seems to be real bad in tanks where people have brought stuff home out of the ocean and dumped it in their tanks, or people who have bought things from pet stores who go get stuff out of the gulf or that have the cyano problem... then they bring it home to their tanks. we have never had it bad thank goodness, way back when we first started our reef, we had gotten a piece of rock from the beach and put it in there, we had one spot on the sand about the size of a wash cloth. We weren't sure what it was so we left it. it got thick and to where you could pick it up, it kept building up air bubbles under it, one day a fish bumped it or something, it lifted off the sand floated to the top, we fished it out, it was slimy and like snot sort of, we threw it away and have never seen hide nor hair of it since.

 

[cybercron]

From what I can tell the algae is not slimy and is quite difficult to remove. It is soft to the touch like felt. I can scrape it off with moderate effort.

Attached is another picture.