Green Bushy Macroalgae ID

[AtlantiCat]

So I've been able to identify all the macro that came with my oceanic live rock except one. It has a single attachment point and mostly looks like a feathery-leafed terrestrial bush to me. Ideas?

Bush next to Caulerpa Mexicana

Bush next to Red Grape Caulerpa

 

[JNalley]

Looks like bryopsis...

 

[vetteguy53081]

So I've been able to identify all the macro that came with my oceanic live rock except one. It has a single attachment point and mostly looks like a feathery-leafed terrestrial bush to me. Ideas?

Bush next to Caulerpa Mexicana

Bush next to Red Grape Caulerpa

Similar to bryopis, this is derbesia. This is one of the more challenging of algae due to need of its complete removal. Removal is best accomplished by taking the rock out of tank and placing in a container of tank water. Then you will want to pull as much as you can by hand and discard. With a dental pick or small crochet needle, pull the roots off the rock. YOU MUST GET EVERY ROOT OR IT WILL SIMPLY RETURN !!
After you are done return rock to tank and reduce white light intensity and even hours of white light and add the following cleaners which will help with control. These guys will consume this stuff but not as fast as derbesia can grow - They will never keep up.
Pin cushion urchin, Chiton snails, pitho crabs, and larger astrea snails

This procedure is not as bad or time consuming as it seems. Assure phosphate levels do not become elevated which helps feed this algae

harbor Freight:

 

[AtlantiCat]

Similar to bryopis, this is derbesia. This is one of the more challenging of algae due to need of its complete removal. Removal is best accomplished by taking the rock out of tank and placing in a container of tank water. Then you will want to pull as much as you can by hand and discard. With a dental pick or small crochet needle, pull the roots off the rock. YOU MUST GET EVERY ROOT OR IT WILL SIMPLY RETURN !!
After you are done return rock to tank and reduce white light intensity and even hours of white light and add the following cleaners which will help with control. These guys will consume this stuff but not as fast as derbesia can grow - They will never keep up.
Pin cushion urchin, Chiton snails, pitho crabs, and larger astrea snails

This procedure is not as bad or time consuming as it seems. Assure phosphate levels do not become elevated which helps feed this algae

harbor Freight:

Not sure this is the same macro. It doesn't look like any of the pictures I'm seeing of derbesia and the entire bush has a single attachment point. It's literally a bush.

You make it sound problematic and invasive, this definitely is not. It's just a couple of small bushes that have been growing very slowly for a couple of months.

 

[AtlantiCat]

Looks like bryopsis...

If it's Bryopsis, it's the most tame version I've ever seen. I have it in another tank and it's growing everywhere and not responding to Reef Flux....

 

[JNalley]

If it's Bryopsis, it's the most tame version I've ever seen. I have it in another tank and it's growing everywhere and not responding to Reef Flux....

Yeh, I dunno... That's just what it looks like... There are millions of species of macroalgae though and quite a few that mimic each other. It could totally be something different, but based on the two pics you've provided, and my knowledge bank, the best fit is bryopsis heh... Sorry I can't be of more help

 

[AtlantiCat]

Yeh, I dunno... That's just what it looks like... There are millions of species of macroalgae though and quite a few that mimic each other. It could totally be something different, but based on the two pics you've provided, and my knowledge bank, the best fit is bryopsis heh... Sorry I can't be of more help

Now I'm thinking maybe some kind of Cladophora. This discussion helped because I had no way to compare it to another algae, because it doesn't look like any of the common macros. So you helped.

 

[vetteguy53081]

If it's Bryopsis, it's the most tame version I've ever seen. I have it in another tank and it's growing everywhere and not responding to Reef Flux....

Im going to look shortly on larger screen

 

[jabberwock]

Following, I have the exact same thing. not really a nuisance for me. I just mow the lawn once a month. Maybe every other month.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Now I'm thinking maybe some kind of Cladophora. This discussion helped because I had no way to compare it to another algae, because it doesn't look like any of the common macros. So you helped.

Looks like a macroalgae known as turtleweed also called maidens hair algae but too much like derbesia

 

[AtlantiCat]

Looks like a macroalgae known as turtleweed also called maidens hair algae but too much like derbesia

Could be, but that looks like individual strands to me. This one branches a lot.

Sorry for the poor pic quality, this is the best I can do with a cell phone.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

There are a ton of green algae species, several of which look remarkably similar to these - my best guess at the present (I've got a lot of learning to do with macroalgae) is a Cladophora or Lychaete species (probably Cladophora); no idea which one though.

 

[AtlantiCat]

There are a ton of green algae species, several of which look remarkably similar to these - my best guess at the present (I've got a lot of learning to do with macroalgae) is a Cladophora or Lychaete species (probably Cladophora); no idea which one though.

Thanks! After checking out both, I'm thinking it's probably Cladophora. The "leaf" structure and the "axils" match up to what I'm seeing online, as much as those terrestrial terms apply to algae. Good to know my past studies of herb and weed identification have some practical usage in a reef tank.

Now I just need to figure out how to propagate it. With only a single attachment point and no apparent "roots", I'm not certain where to start. Might just rubber band a piece to a rock and see what it does.

 

[JNalley]

Thanks! After checking out both, I'm thinking it's probably Cladophora. The "leaf" structure and the "axils" match up to what I'm seeing online, as much as those terrestrial terms apply to algae. Good to know my past studies of herb and weed identification have some practical usage in a reef tank.

Now I just need to figure out how to propagate it. With only a single attachment point and no apparent "roots", I'm not certain where to start. Might just rubber band a piece to a rock and see what it does.

thats how Gracilaria Hayi is... I superglued the "foot" or "hold fast" to a rock and it took off in my refugium... I glued about 5-7 pieces on initially, could still see most of the rock, within a week the rock was a big red bush and you couldn't see any of the rock face :-D

 

[AtlantiCat]

thats how Gracilaria Hayi is... I superglued the "foot" or "hold fast" to a rock and it took off in my refugium... I glued about 5-7 pieces on initially, could still see most of the rock, within a week the rock was a big red bush and you couldn't see any of the rock face :-D

Cool! The problem with this one is that the holdfast is a single thread. What I don't know is if it will create a new one. It might simply spawn, land a spore in a crevice, and grow from that. Might not be propagatable, but I am a plant whisperer, so if it can be done, I'll figure it out, dag nabbit!