Algae on Frag Plugs

[seahorse_man]

I ordered some frags from an online vendor (who I most likely won't be ordering from again...it's been a nightmare). And I noticed that almost all the frags they sent have algae on the plugs. There was a small amount of bubble algae, which was easy to remove (outside the tank of course), but this other algae is very hard to get rid of since it's growing between the zoas and I can't just take a toothbrush and scrape it off. I don't have this algae anywhere else in the tank; you can see the Utter Chaos zoas from another vendor in the picture....algae free. The rest are from the same vendor and all have algae on the plugs. I was thinking of removing them from the plugs, but not sure I can do this for all of them. The little piece of rock attached to the plug has it as well, plus some of the zoas are grown onto the plug itself.

It's a small tank, so no tangs or anything like that. I did add a few crabs (that's the scarlet crab in the pic). Any other ideas that won't harm the coral? Is there a dip I can use that would kill he algae but not the coral?

Thanks

 

[nden]

Not sure what type of algae that is, but I've had hair algae growing on some plugs. Try some turbo and trochus snails. I manually place them on/near the plugs and they work on it.

 

[flchamp89]

I would remove plugs and scrub with a tooth brush and peroxide. See how that looks first.

 

[Darth.Daddy12]

I ordered some frags from an online vendor (who I most likely won't be ordering from again...it's been a nightmare). And I noticed that almost all the frags they sent have algae on the plugs. There was a small amount of bubble algae, which was easy to remove (outside the tank of course), but this other algae is very hard to get rid of since it's growing between the zoas and I can't just take a toothbrush and scrape it off. I don't have this algae anywhere else in the tank; you can see the Utter Chaos zoas from another vendor in the picture....algae free. The rest are from the same vendor and all have algae on the plugs. I was thinking of removing them from the plugs, but not sure I can do this for all of them. The little piece of rock attached to the plug has it as well, plus some of the zoas are grown onto the plug itself.

It's a small tank, so no tangs or anything like that. I did add a few crabs (that's the scarlet crab in the pic). Any other ideas that won't harm the coral? Is there a dip I can use that would kill he algae but not the coral?

Thanks

I’ve never received a plug locally or online that didn’t have some algae. Imop it’s a good sign that they are keeping the frags nourished. Once placed into a gold tank the algae goes away in a week or two. If not then your nutrients are to high. However it won’t hinder your system.

Most people scrub a lot of the algae off with a toothbrush before placing into QT. If you do this by the time you add to tank it will be algea free.

 

[Cell]

I always remove vendor plugs before dipping.

 

[Sailfinguy21]

For the zoas you can dip for like 5 minutes or more in hydrigen peroxid and tank water.. itll kill any algae on it.

50.50

For these soft corals what i do is take 2 pairs of oliers... grab the plugs on oposite ends and break as much olug off as i can leaving the coral on a nub of the original plug.

I remove every coral from amy rock or plug they are glued on... besides the bubble apgae on the plugs you said.. the rest of the algae doesnt look like a cincern to me... dip em in hydrigen peroxid.. and or scrub em with a tooth brush

 

[Darth.Daddy12]

Delete

 

[seahorse_man]

I always remove vendor plugs before dipping.

As I said, the piece of rubble the coral is attached to had it as well. And some of them were growing on the plug, so a bit difficult. I ddin't think hacking the corals up after being shipped would be the best idea.