Please ID

[snupa]

Hello. Could someone ID some some of the algae that's growing on my rock and tell me whether it will be a future problem.
The first one is of this red 'hair' kind of algae that's growing on my LR in one portion.
The second is a green algae that's somewhat taking over one of my rocks.
[IMG]http://i55.*******.com/10y41ed.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i54.*******.com/wbtqmw.jpg[/IMG]

[disc1]

That's a lot of different algae. How old is the tank?

[cloak]

Check this out. You might want to adjust the delay a bit though. Fifteen seconds can last a long time.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-0...ides/index.php

[DoubleM 10]

the fisrt picture looks like green hair algea.

the second pic has to much going on in the pic. so i really cant tell what you want us to identify

[snupa]

On the first pic its in the upper right side, it looks like red hair algae. The second pic it's what is basically growing all over the rock. The tank is about 2 months but I got the rock from a LFS

[snupa]

could the red stuff be red algae be red turn algae and the green Caulerpa brachypus?

[cloak]

That red stuff might be Asparagopsis. (red turf algae) I think the leafy green one is caulerpa brachypus.

[snupa]

So how do I get rid of it?

[cloak]

Elbow grease. Every time you do a water change try and pull as much of it out as you can. Keep your parameters in check and that should slow down the growth. On some of those patches, if you can pluck it down to the rock, you can flatten out some epoxy and smother it. There are some fish/invertebrates that might eat the stuff, but I don't really no which ones. Just keep pulling it out. Stay ahead of it. Good luck.

[briankmarsh1980]

thats not good you have RED TURF!!! = really bad almost impossible to get rid of and will take over the tank, you are going to have to scrape it off, or bake your rocks(last resort)

and you got green hair, no big deal(nutrients are to high) whats your MAG at? at higher levels it greatly reduces algae. I keep mine at 1400

Caulerpa macro algae, looks cool, lowers nutrients, but as you can see it will take over, only way to get rid of it is manually removing it.

[snupa]

Do turbo snails eat red turf?

[briankmarsh1980]

You could try a mexican turbo but they can't get down in the cracks to get it all out so it will keep coming back

[snupa]

Oh geez, is there a long term solution to this then? It seems like there is not after some google searching

[briankmarsh1980]

If its not on all your rocks or just small patches scrape it off with a screw driver or ditch the rock and replace it. But if it gets out of control it will be a serious problem.

Red turf is bad stuff


Edit: I have heard of people raising there mag way up and burning the turf to kill it.... But I have never tried it or know if it actually works, but it could be worth a shot

[snupa]

what a bummer. I can't quite get rid of the rock since I do not have any cycled rocks that I can put in to replace it. I guess I'll try to get a few snails and put them on, if that doesn't work i'll take the rocks out.

[briankmarsh1980]

If I were you I would get new rocks and just get a rubbermaid tub from walmart and cycle them in that with a powerhead. You would be better off since you don't have a lot of stuff in the tank

[sjwitt]

So I checked your stats and it says you have a FOWLR tank. I would turn the lights off for a while and cut back on the food. Tank will get ambient light during the day and the fish won't really mind.

BTW, how long is your light cycle and what type of lighting? What are your parameters? You need to find the source of all that algae and fix it, else you'll be weeding the tank forever.

[keenstyle1]

Ok I just dealt with this 2 months ago, heres what you do:

1.Buy a Lawnmower Blenny
2. Buy a Sea Hair
3. Buy As many regular sized turbo's as possible.
4. RE-do your rock/coral formation. While doing that you can physically pick off the big pieces with your fingers.

By re-doing the coral formation you are changing what the algea is used to in regards to light and water flow. This will kill alot of it.

I also had temporarily put those corals that were infected, in pure lab grade fresh water while re-arranging,(that may have not had anything to do with it)

The last thing is Water Flow, You have to have strong water flow!!

Hope this helps.

PS If I had to "bake my rocks" I would cry for the first time in 15 years! But no disrespect.

[snupa]

I just did a check for parameters and the readings are Ite 0, Ate 0, Ammonia 0, pH 8.1.
My light cycle is currently 8 hours running a 36" T5 that I got 3 months ago. It's an AquaticLife 2x39W. My temperature is set to 78F.
As for water changes I do 15% every week with 40% once a month on top of that.

For water flow I have a 750GPH and a 450 GPH powerhead in the tank moving the water quite a bit.

Based on these opinions I think I will get 6 turbos and see how that works. Are lawnmower blennies actually effective i heard it depends.
While I'm experimenting with the snails, what if I ordered some dry rock from bulkreefsupply and cycled that in a bucket just in case. 15-20lbs doesn't run too high.

Edit: can i even add a lawnmower blenny with a tailspot blenny or would it cause trouble.

[briankmarsh1980]

What they stated above will work for the hair algae not the turf... Don't get a sea hare it will starve to death. And red turf loves high flow... I had red turf so bad it actually over came my powerhead and stopped it lol. Needless to say I lost the battle with it and had to tear down my tank bake my rock and start over it really sucked.
I hope you are more successful then I was and that you caught it soon enough.

Edit: your tests will not be accurate for phosphates and nitrates, all that algae is consuming it.
I bet if you feed less and run some GFO most your algae problems will go away

[snupa]

hmmm ok this is all very useful.

Can I add completely dry rock to my tank that has LR in it? The LR in my tank has been in there for about 3 months. Do I need to cycle the dry rock before adding it in or can I just add it in the tank and 'seed' it from the established LR. Will it effect my fish health if I do?

[briankmarsh1980]

I would cycle the rock in a tub just to be safe but you would probably be ok adding 1 rock at a time into your DT. If you do just test for ammonia daily but I would just get new rock put it in a tub with a powerhead use water from your DT and let it sit for a week and then test it

[snupa]

Sounds good, I'll try that

[snupa]

As an update I bought some dry frock from bulkreefsupply and added it into my tank 2 days ago after letting it sit in a tub for roughly 4 days. I swapped out the turn rocks that are currently in a tub until I decide on what to do with them. Thanks for the suggestions!

[bnumair]

its all different kinda algae. u can replace the rock or boil ir srub it. +1 above