Algae ID help

Mattscubeofwater · Feb 3, 2018

It appears brown, looks like fine hairs and moves with the current. There are no bubbles in it. It started off fuzzy and appeared in rock holes first. When I take a turkey baster to it, it disintegrates. I think it started from an abundance of phosphates from possibly over feeding but I’m unsure.

Everyone tells me hair ague is green.

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Phosphate -0 after adding phosguard. May be a false reading

Nitirate - 0-5 ppm ati test kit
Ph 8.3
Alk - 9

Thabks

P-Dub · Feb 3, 2018

Likely Diatoms. Brown slime algae. Reduce silicates and DOC's. NoPoX. But that is my guess. Pictures are tough to decipher but based on that and your description... That'd be my guess.

Jose Mayo · Feb 3, 2018

It looks like cyanobacteria, to me ... there are colonies of various colors.

Regards

ectoaesthetics · Feb 3, 2018

Cyano. From the photo I could go diatoms or cyano, but if it is hairy and moves in the current it is probably cyano.

Is your tank still super young? It is very common to see a bloom in new tanks as they attempt to figure out their balance. Consider it more of a bacteria bloom than a algae bloom (which is why it almost ALWAYS happens in a newer reef). This will not be the last you see of the stuff. Any time you over feed you will probably see a recurrence.

Mattscubeofwater · Feb 3, 2018

Yes it’s a newer tank. 3 months. What happened was on of my fish got flukes somehow so I dosed prazi and had to turn off the skimmer for 3 weeks. During that time I think my phosguard needed to be replaced and my phosphates shot up before I could realize it. Thanks for the replies.

Mattscubeofwater · Feb 4, 2018

I just purchased a microscope. I’m not gonna be asking anymore of these questions haha

Mattscubeofwater · Feb 6, 2018

Well it is confirmed diatom algae

P-Dub · Feb 7, 2018

Mattscubeofwater said:
Well it is confirmed diatom algae

Well, there you go. Now I have to get a microscope... Any recommendations?

Mattscubeofwater · Feb 7, 2018

I got this one based on recommendations. It’s a lot nicer then I expected for the price. It was on amazon warehouse deals for $65. I couldn’t even see the cosmetic defect it allegedly had. Don’t forget slides. I like that it takes batteries and also provides and an AC power source. Best of both worlds.

A tip I got was to leave a couple glass slides attached to styrofoam in the overflow for a couple weeks. Then take them out and look to see what’s been growing on them