Algae identification, cause and eradication

[kmwcane]

Hello everyone! Does anyone have an idea of what type of algae is in the following photos? It has been slowly but steadily growing across ONLY my rockwork.

Once this has been identified, why has it begun to spread in my tank? How would I go about reducing its coverage?

My water parameters are as follows (I am working on bringing my nitrates up):

Phos: .04
Nitrate: undetectable to maybe .5
Alk: 8.0
Cal: 400
Mag: 1320

CUC consists of 7 scarlet/blue leg hermits, 20 dwarf ceriths and 5 regular ceriths. Fish included yellow tang, 2 clowns and a starki damsel.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

 

[kmwcane]

Hello everyone! Does anyone have an idea of what type of algae is in the following photos? It has been slowly but steadily growing across ONLY my rockwork.

Once this has been identified, why has it begun to spread in my tank? How would I go about reducing its coverage?

My water parameters are as follows (I am working on bringing my nitrates up):

Phos: .04
Nitrate: undetectable to maybe .5
Alk: 8.0
Cal: 400
Mag: 1320

CUC consists of 7 scarlet/blue leg hermits, 20 dwarf ceriths and 5 regular ceriths. Fish included yellow tang, 2 clowns and a starki damsel.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Additional information: I have been broadcast dosing Brightwell amino acids on a daily basis for the past two weeks. Could this be the cause or a major contributing factor?

 

[BighohoReef]

Looks like GHA, parameters look within range, what's your lighting schedule like? I might suggest adding some Trochus snails and mexican turbo snails. How old is your tank and size?

 

[kmwcane]

Looks like GHA, parameters look within range, what's your lighting schedule like? I might suggest adding some Trochus snails and mexican turbo snails. How old is your tank and size?

I run my lights (RedSea LED90) on a 60% blue, 30% white intensity for 11 hours a day with a one hour ramp up and ramp down. Tank is a RedSea 350 and has been up and running since February 4, 2020.

 

[01xp]

Its still a young tank. It's normal back you lighting down 11 hrs is a long time

 

[BighohoReef]

I run my lights (RedSea LED90) on a 60% blue, 30% white intensity for 11 hours a day with a one hour ramp up and ramp down. Tank is a RedSea 350 and has been up and running since February 4, 2020.

Lighting looks fine too. I would try getting a few more cleaners. My best results have been a combo of turbos, trochus and blue leg hermits. My 100g tank is almost spotless, some might suggest vibrant or fluconazole as well just make sure you follow the instructions and follow up on the water changes.

 

[kmwcane]

Lighting looks fine too. I would try getting a few more cleaners. My best results have been a combo of turbos, trochus and blue leg hermits. My 100g tank is almost spotless, some might suggest vibrant or fluconazole as well just make sure you follow the instructions and follow up on the water changes.

I've tried trochus snails twice now and every time they have all died; I think I need to acclimate them for a longer time, maybe a few hours of drip acclimation.

As I think this through some more, I have definitely noticed an upswing in algae since I began more frequent amino acid dosing. Have others experienced this as well?

 

[BighohoReef]

I've tried trochus snails twice now and every time they have all died; I think I need to acclimate them for a longer time, maybe a few hours of drip acclimation.

As I think this through some more, I have definitely noticed an upswing in algae since I began more frequent amino acid dosing. Have others experienced this as well?

You shouldn't need to acclimate the trochus or snails I typically just add them into the tank.
Early on I had a similar issue with my CuC... then I started to order from John @reefcleaners using their instructions:

Reef Cleaners

Chitons or coat of mail shells are small to large, primitive marine mollusks. Read more general information on Chitons here.

www.reefcleaners.org

Anytime your increasing your nutrient load you potentially are going to get some type of algae bloom. How much amino are you dropping into the tank?

 

[kmwcane]

You shouldn't need to acclimate the trochus or snails I typically just add them into the tank.
Early on I had a similar issue with my CuC... then I started to order from John @reefcleaners using their instructions:

Reef Cleaners

Chitons or coat of mail shells are small to large, primitive marine mollusks. Read more general information on Chitons here.

www.reefcleaners.org

Anytime your increasing your nutrient load you potentially are going to get some type of algae bloom. How much amino are you dropping into the tank?

I am adding the recommended dosage of 1mL per 50 gallons once per day. Prior to two weeks ago, I had only been dosing aminos twice a week but I had been seeing (or so I think) good results so I upped the dosage. Do you think this could be the issue (even though I have nearly undetectable nitrate and .04 phosphate)?

 

[BighohoReef]

I don't think you should be to concerned with the dosing you're doing the 350 holds 73g? so 1 1/2 mls? If your parameters aren't changing much I don't think it's related. As someone mentioned above you still have a fairly new tank. When I switched my tank it took a few months before I got the algae under control. I had a lot of help from a good CuC, lowered or reduced lighting and controlled feeding of livestock. It takes times as most of the vets in this hobby would say, nothing happens overnight, patience is what leads to a long term sustainable tank. Make your changes slowly...

 

[kmwcane]

So I plucked some of this algae out and it feels very much like moss - wiry and tough; does GHA normally have this type of consistency? I always thought GHA was more stringy and not as dense I guess...

 

[BighohoReef]

So I plucked some of this algae out and it feels very much like moss - wiry and tough; does GHA normally have this type of consistency? I always thought GHA was more stringy and not as dense I guess...

GHA is stringy, you probably have bryopsis in which case I would recommend a fluconazole treatment. Make sure you follow the instructions...

Bryopsis Cure: My Battle With Bryopsis Using Fluconazole

The Poll In This Thread is For Bryopsis Only not GHA,Turf,Bubble Algae or any other Algae The 2 week treatment is for Bryopsis algae. For GHA,turf algae and bubble algae it may take as long as 4-6 weeks to kill. GHA,turf algae,bubble algae are different than Bryopsis algae. Bryopsis algae will...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[kmwcane]

Thanks for all of the help!

Last question (I hope)... in researching bryopsis, its appears that it has a fern like look/structure and what is in my tank definitely does not look like this. Are there different types of bryopsis?