Hair algae or something more challenging.

darinsmall86

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2 years in on this tank and had a explosion of algae and all my snails died off. Have a scribbled rabbitfish in qt and a couple tangs in the tank already. Curious what you guys think.

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Does it release easy when you pull it? Does it float away if you use a turkey baster? Do you have a microscope? looks more like a bacteria to me.
 
Its a comination of bryopsis algae and what is known as Calothrix. These species of cyano often appear as a light slimy yet hairy/fuzzy nastiness that loosely attaches to your rock work. Air bubbles are usually trapped while escaping the algae. Calothrix is a type of algae that looks very similar to Dinos.
A couple ways to get rid of it:

Manual Removal: Remove the rock and scrub, and then fine tune with a toothbrush. Let the cleaners get the rest. It helps to use a net to collect the debris that will occur as a result of the toothbrushing.

Afterwards, add Clean Up Crew: Chitons, Nerite and margarita snails and other cyano cleaners work well.
 
Treated with Chemiclean a couple days ago but not much change yet. 4.5 hours away from any LFS but hoping to make it to get some more cuc in a few weeks.
 
I had good luck removing it with a turkey baster and turning up the flow and replacing the filter floss and sock once DT was clear.
 
3 weeks ago I pulled a lot of the rock out and scrubbed it. I should have sprayed with peroxide at the same time. Will have to find a day to re clean it. All started with a bucket of reef crystals. On the second batch I noticed big strings of bacteria in my mixing container.
 
3 weeks ago I pulled a lot of the rock out and scrubbed it. I should have sprayed with peroxide at the same time. Will have to find a day to re clean it. All started with a bucket of reef crystals. On the second batch I noticed big strings of bacteria in my mixing container.
I scrubbed my rocks and sprayed them all down with H2O2. Within 2 hours I had a huge dino outbreak. I had also dosed fluconazole. Be careful. Using a microscope is cheap and easy and can give you a definite ID on algae and bacteria.
 

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

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  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

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  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%
  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%

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