Byropsis or Green Hair Algae?

[Mark Taber]

As per topic. It attaches well to the rock and does not come off in clumps if you pull it. Seems to be stringy and snaps well I pull at it. Since reducing my N03 to zero, the top part of the algae is dying off and although the bottom part of the algae is attached well to the rock, it is now a light green, not dark green.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Not a bryopsis , nor a Gha.
Your on the right tack though. If it's dying scrub it and maybe look into some more and diverse snails

 

[Mark Taber]

Interesting, I thought it was Bryopsis. It grows as quick as it dies. I can scrub the aquarium silicon and the next day, it is back. I have Nitrates and Phosphates at zero so I am hoping the die off continues.
It is still hanging onto the rock!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Bryo will have a specific feather or fern look even though there's many kinds.

 

[reeferfoxx]

Bryopsis also tends to not grow back in areas where its been removed.

My guess is GHA or a form of GHA. If it's going from dark green to light green, its on the verge of dying off. Fluconazole can help remove it entirely.

How old is the tank?

 

[Mark Taber]

Thanks, the tank is about 2 years old but in all the years I have kept reefs, this is the first tank that has always suffered from algae and Nitrate problems since it's start and one where I can't grow coralline algae. I moved into an area which has high Nitrates in the water and even though I have an RO/DI unit, I noticed some Nitrates were getting through. Replaced the unit but still the same problem. I later learned that RO/DI units cannot strip all Nitrates from the water and I now realise that I have been adding Nitrates since setting it up. Hence now I have been using Redsea N03 N04-X and now have Nitrates under control.

 

[Mark Taber]

I will try and post a picture, algae definitely dying off so must be an aggressive strain of hair algae as it is taking an age to die while keeping my Nitrates and Phosphates at zero.

 

[Mark Taber]

Thought I would post an update. My Nitrates remained at zero for several weeks and my corals started to suffer so I had to ease off the N03 P04-X by halving my dosage. Nitrates have increased and the interesting point is that the algae is really dying so I assume I had a bacteria imbalance. My Nitrates are at 5ppm so I have increased the dosage again slightly from 2ml to 2.75ml. Still not sure where the Nitrates are coming from as the last 2 water changes have registered zero Nitrates on the makeup water, I have real low stocking levels and feed sparingly. Still, I will report back in a few weeks but if it continues to die at the rate it is now, it should be gone by then.
One last point, I am assuming phosphate is leaching from the rocks and the algae is immediately absorbing it so I never get a phosphate reading on the test kit.

 

[Mark Taber]

Just wanted to give an update to this thread just in case anyone comes across this and wanted to know the final outcome.

Although I have spots of hair algae, I have pretty much got rid of the mass of algae I once had. This was achieved by
1) Letting the Nitrate increase to 3-5ppm. I think I had a bacteria imbalance and I saw an immediate die off of algae after allowing the Nitrate to increase.
2). Stabilizing my dosage of RedSea N03 P04-X to 3ml per day on my 200l aquarium. I also split the dosage across a 24 hour period e.g. 3 doses of 1ml.
3). Once the algae started to die back, I added 10 turbo snails as I had no clean up crew previous to this.


Hope this helps someone in some way.