Need some help, the ugly stage is here

[BristleWormHater]

I need some help with Id on algae, and what cuc members to add. Here's pics

Diatoms:

What is this?

Bubble algae

What is that (on top of the left side of dipsastraea)

Same stuff as the dipsastraea but the goni seems pretty bothered by it

What is this

I'll try to get better pics but I think these are bryozoans

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Had that thought too, but I'm not sure.

I've had dinos in new tanks that went away with time and frequent (2-3 x/week) manual removal... I think this type of dinos is fairly common.
The most important tips I can give you are don't add algecides or other similar chemicals in such a young tank, make a plan and try not to "be lazy" (your words) when following it, and be patient

It's not at all uncommon for a new tank to look "ugly" for the first year. You're trying to establish a long term stable biome and that does not happen overnight.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

The bryopsis has begun to die after the fluconazole treatment I added. More algae has popped up as well as two sponges, maybe? I need some ID help. @ISpeakForTheSeas

I struggle with blue light pics - any chance you could get some white light pics? Also, does the thing on the glass come and go or move around

 

[MDAquatics]

I think you're moving pretty fast here personally, the ugly stage is a natural process and this is a very young tank. Keep up with the manual removal. Chemical warfare is a bit of a rush here.

 

[vetteguy53081]

The bryopsis has begun to die after the fluconazole treatment I added. More algae has popped up as well as two sponges, maybe? I need some ID help. @ISpeakForTheSeas

This is derbesia and similar to bryopsis and the key to removal is removing the roots of each strand. As long as there are roots, it will keep coming back. Use of Flux and other chemicals is an alternative and not solution in many cases.
Remove what you can by hand and then pull roots with a dental or ice pick and add pitho crabs and large astrea snails to help with control

 

[vetteguy53081]

Never heard of fluconazole causing Dinos and don't see how it could considering it raises nutrients. I had 2 emeralds, removed them both after the picked on my coral. It is not typical hair algae it is bryopsis (hence fluconazole). Working on cuc currently

I have not either but chemical imbalance and reduction of phosphates will trigger dino.

 

[BristleWormHater]

I think you're moving pretty fast here personally, the ugly stage is a natural process and this is a very young tank. Keep up with the manual removal. Chemical warfare is a bit of a rush here.

I know, but I had to use fluconazole bryopsis will never go away on its own like other algae. Fluconazole is also not a universal algae killer it mostly works for hair algae and bryopsis.

 

[BristleWormHater]

This is derbesia and similar to bryopsis and the key to removal is removing the roots of each strand. As long as there are roots, it will keep coming back. Use of Flux and other chemicals is an alternative and not solution in many cases.
Remove what you can by hand and then pull roots with a dental or ice pick and add pitho crabs and large astrea snails to help with control

In which picture?

 

[exnisstech]

Flux rx in a new tank. This should get interesting. I made that mistake and 14 months later I'm finally getting things turned around.

 

[BristleWormHater]

Flux rx in a new tank. This should get interesting. I made that mistake and 14 months later I'm finally getting things turned around.

What are problems you had with it?

 

[exnisstech]

What are problems you had with it?

It killed all the green algae then cyano took over. I dove head first down the rabbit hole. Treated with chemi clean for cyano then the gha came back. Rinse and repeat. I finally just stopped adding anything and let the gha take over because it wasn't near as bad as the cyano. I spent the last 10 or 11 months just manually removing it. Did two rip cleans durring that time as well.

Fun times lol

I'll never use chemicals again for something that can be managed in a more natural way. But I do not try to run sterile tanks and a little algae here and there doesn't bother me.

That old nasty word new reefers hate to hear, patience along with a little hard work for the win. I've finally turned a corner with this tank.

 

[BristleWormHater]

I struggle with blue light pics - any chance you could get some white light pics? Also, does the thing on the glass come and go or move around

It killed all the green algae then cyano took over. I dove head first down the rabbit hole. Treated with chemi clean for cyano then the gha came back. Rinse and repeat. I finally just stopped adding anything and let the gha take over because it wasn't near as bad as the cyano. I spent the last 10 or 11 months just manually removing it. Did two rip cleans durring that time as well.

Fun times lol

I'll never use chemicals again for something that can be managed in a more natural way. But I do not try to run sterile tanks and a little algae here and there doesn't bother me.

That old nasty word new reefers hate to hear, patience along with a little hard work for the win. I've finally turned a corner with this tank.

I really didn't plan on ever using medications, but I really can't remove most of the rocks because it would collapse the whole arch structure of my tank, and manual removal is tough with bryopsis because of the stupid roots it has.

 

[BristleWormHater]

I struggle with blue light pics - any chance you could get some white light pics? Also, does the thing on the glass come and go or move around

Here's some pics, also I found this little worm in the algae while I was taking pics, any idea what it is? My leading theory is just a small bristleworm, since I have many that look like this but bigger, the way it moves has me questioning that though (I'll post a video after this post). As for that thing on the glass it hasn't moved but it looks Like it lost a branch, probably from flow or maybe one of the snails. It looks really similar to the mycelium you see when you lift up an old log.

 

[mh0ward]

Next time you see bryopsis, try turning off all the pumps and using a syringe to cover it in hydrogen peroxide. Let it sit for 5 minutes or so and then turn your pumps back on. You might need to do it a couple of times, but I did this with some coarse red/purple turf algae and it hasn’t come back after several months. Just out of caution, I would limit the total amount you use at a time, so catch it early so you only need to treat a few smaller spots

 

[BristleWormHater]

Next time you see bryopsis, try turning off all the pumps and using a syringe to cover it in hydrogen peroxide. Let it sit for 5 minutes or so and then turn your pumps back on. You might need to do it a couple of times, but I did this with some coarse red/purple turf algae and it hasn’t come back after several months. Just out of caution, I would limit the total amount you use at a time, so catch it early so you only need to treat a few smaller spots

Hopefully there's not a next time

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I found this little worm in the algae while I was taking pics, any idea what it is? My leading theory is just a small bristleworm, since I have many that look like this but bigger, the way it moves has me questioning that though (I'll post a video after this post).

It's definitely a polychaete; does it have five tentacles on its head?

Here's some pics,

I'm not seeing any sponges. The algae looks like pretty standard ugly stages to me - lots of filamentous green algae (hair and turf algae) and a couple oddballs, but nothing concerning. It does look like you may have some dinos, as was mentioned though.

As for that thing on the glass it hasn't moved but it looks Like it lost a branch, probably from flow or maybe one of the snails. It looks really similar to the mycelium you see when you lift up an old log.

Given that it hasn't moved, my guess would be an Astorhizidan foraminiferan - I'm pretty sure I've seen them come up a few times now, but the last time I looked, there was very, very little info available (and I still need to finish reading through the few things I've found on them), so I haven't been able to confirm that.

Anyway, assuming that you have the same or a similar thing as the others I've seen before (which look suspiciously like a Radicula species), they would be harmless filter-feeders, and they typically disappear after a while.

For some pics you can compare with, see the figures in the first link below and (particularly) the plates at the end of the second link:

Frontiers | Macrofauna-sized foraminifera in epibenthic sledge samples from five areas in the eastern Clarion-Clipperton Zone (equatorial Pacific)

Benthic foraminifera cannot be sampled adequately using a single device. Smaller taxa are best collected using multicorers, the larger with box corers, but t...

www.frontiersin.org

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259962329_Gromiids_and_monothalamous_foraminiferans_Rhizaria_from_the_Andaman_Sea_Thailand_-_Taxonomic_notes

 

[Lavey29]

The bryopsis has begun to die after the fluconazole treatment I added. More algae has popped up as well as two sponges, maybe? I need some ID help. @ISpeakForTheSeas

If you are adding harsh chemicals to a brand new tank then you just killed off what little biome had started and your ugly phases will be never ending.

 

[BristleWormHater]

If you are adding harsh chemicals to a brand new tank then you just killed off what little biome had started and your ugly phases will be never ending.

It's just reef flux(fluconazole 200mg) to my knowledge and research before adding it, it is not particularly harsh, and only effects filaments algaes like gha, turf, and bryopsis. I think it'll be fine.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

those are dinos in that tank

 

[BristleWormHater]

It's definitely a polychaete; does it have five tentacles on its head?

I'm not seeing any sponges. The algae looks like pretty standard ugly stages to me - lots of filamentous green algae (hair and turf algae) and a couple oddballs, but nothing concerning. It does look like you may have some dinos, as was mentioned though.

Given that it hasn't moved, my guess would be an Astorhizidan foraminiferan - I'm pretty sure I've seen them come up a few times now, but the last time I looked, there was very, very little info available (and I still need to finish reading through the few things I've found on them), so I haven't been able to confirm that.

Anyway, assuming that you have the same or a similar thing as the others I've seen before (which look suspiciously like a Radicula species), they would be harmless filter-feeders, and they typically disappear after a while.

For some pics you can compare with, see the figures in the first link below and (particularly) the plates at the end of the second link:

Frontiers | Macrofauna-sized foraminifera in epibenthic sledge samples from five areas in the eastern Clarion-Clipperton Zone (equatorial Pacific)

Benthic foraminifera cannot be sampled adequately using a single device. Smaller taxa are best collected using multicorers, the larger with box corers, but t...

www.frontiersin.org

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259962329_Gromiids_and_monothalamous_foraminiferans_Rhizaria_from_the_Andaman_Sea_Thailand_-_Taxonomic_notes

I was thinking that thing on the glass was a sponge of some kind. The other thing I thought was a sponge was this thing, but it's probably some algae.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I was thinking that thing on the glass was a sponge of some kind. The other thing I thought was a sponge was this thing, but it's probably some algae.

Ah, yeah, I'd guess that's algae, but it could potentially be a really oddly growing sponge.