Reef Central Online Community

Go Back   Reef Central Online Community > General Interest Forums > Reef Discussion
Blogs FAQ Calendar

Notices

User Tag List

Reply
Thread Tools
Unread 01/17/2011, 02:33 PM   #1
afboundguy
recovering acan'aholic
 
afboundguy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Ipswich MA
Posts: 224
Natural predators of cotton candy algae?

Are there any natural predators of cotton candy algae? I just replaced my 2+ year old t5 bulbs and I was having a little bit of an algae problem because of them but I want to get rid of it as fast as possible... TIA...


__________________
2013 BoD Vice President Boston Reefers Society
2012 BoD President Boston Reefers Society
2011 BoD Secretary Boston Reefers Society
2010 BoD at Large Boston Reefers Society

Current Tank Info: 25 gallon starfire cube
afboundguy is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 01/17/2011, 02:37 PM   #2
chimmike
oxygen abuser
 
chimmike's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Parrish, FL
Posts: 5,089
Blog Entries: 2
water changes, maybe minimize the light cycle for a few days?

i've never heard of cotton candy algae. Cyano?


__________________
-Mike
Tankless wonder
Geaux Noles!
chimmike is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 01/17/2011, 02:41 PM   #3
Richard101
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Coconut Creek, FL
Posts: 33
I had some in my sump and i'm pretty sure my black long spine urchin ate it, either that or it just went away. Its pretty easy to just pull of the rocks though.

Cotton candy algae is a pink fuzzy algae, usually grows into balls. It's defiantly not as common as red slime though.


Richard101 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 01/17/2011, 06:23 PM   #4
afboundguy
recovering acan'aholic
 
afboundguy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Ipswich MA
Posts: 224
I have been pulling it off the rocks and it's starting to go away just wondering if there was something else to help it faster...


__________________
2013 BoD Vice President Boston Reefers Society
2012 BoD President Boston Reefers Society
2011 BoD Secretary Boston Reefers Society
2010 BoD at Large Boston Reefers Society

Current Tank Info: 25 gallon starfire cube
afboundguy is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 01/17/2011, 07:41 PM   #5
allsps40
Registered Member
 
allsps40's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Arizona
Posts: 4,627
I had CCA in my tank and in my fuge bad. I could not find anything that would eat the stuff. What I had to do was remove may sand from my tank, it was only on the sand luckily. I then put boiling water in the sand 3 times to kill it all off. After a good rinsing it went back into the tank. To remove it from my fuge I removed and replaced all the sand and am cooking the rock and rubble that was in the fuge. I now have the lights off in the fuge until my rock is done cooking. I hope this takes care of it in the fuge. I have tried cleaning it out 3 times and had the lights off in the fuge for 3 weeks, soon as I turned the lights on it came back.


allsps40 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 01/17/2011, 09:35 PM   #6
dendronepthya
Premium Member
 
dendronepthya's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Akron, OH, USA
Posts: 3,762
To answer your question, urchins, mexican turbo snails, and foxfaces all eat it. The problem is, it grows faster than things can realistically eat it. Also, things that do eat it often lose a taste for it after a while and you are back to square 1. If you have rocks with it growing, I would recommend removing the rock and setting it outside until the algae is dead.


__________________
- Than (dendro)

Current Tank Info: 5000-gallon greenhouse system
dendronepthya is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 01/17/2011, 09:40 PM   #7
Toddrtrex
Registered Member
 
Toddrtrex's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Carol Stream, IL
Posts: 23,162
Like mentioned, Mexican Turbos and urchins work well, and I have actually had good luck with my yellow tang, even watched it pick it out of the water column.

I have found that that stuff will even grow in low nutrient tanks, but at least it does slow down, so improving water conditions at the same time will help.


__________________
Click my name and then "visit toddrtrex's homepage" for tank pictures

Current Tank Info: 210g reef and 65g reef
Toddrtrex is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
cotton candy algae TWINPEAKS Reef Discussion 3 03/11/2008 08:59 PM
lobophora & cotton candy algae ncox38 Saint Louis Area Saltwater Hobbyists (SLASH) 13 01/15/2008 07:15 PM
how do I kill cotton candy algae? jcatblum Marine Plants & Macroalgae 7 08/19/2006 09:14 AM
Stomatella/Red Cotton Candy Algae eclecticvibe Other Invertebrates 1 07/24/2006 11:02 AM


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:48 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2025 Axivo Inc.
Use of this web site is subject to the terms and conditions described in the user agreement.
Reef CentralTM Reef Central, LLC. Copyright ©1999-2022
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2025 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.