Odd Brown Algae - Need ID and Treatment Plan?

Contrariwise · Jan 25, 2020

Hi Guys,
I've got a weird one. This stuff is all over my rockwork, doesn't live in the sand - only the rock. Grows like crazy.
It is not hard, nor filamentous. It doesn't feel like a sponge either, it's squishy, gooey and gross. I have tried sucking it out (every week during 15% WC), Reef Flux with a 3-day blackout - the stuff just keeps coming back.

Anyone know what this is and how I get rid of it forever.... :mad:

Feeding Schedule - 1x daily, San Francisco 1/4 cube Reef variety pack + 1 scoop Reef Roids
Photoperiod - 10 hours (using David Saxby's AI schedule tweaked a bit)
Running Skimmer and SeaGel
Tank is 10 months old
Livestock - 2 Mocha Clowns, 1 Tailspot Goby, 1 Cleaner Shrimp, CUC

Params:
Salinity - 1.027
Ph - 7.8
Nitrite, NitrAte, Amm - 0
Phosphate - 0 (suspect this stuff and the green on the sand are sucking it up)
Mag - 1400
Calc - 360
dKH - 7.6

X-37B · Jan 25, 2020

How big is the tank? Stop the reef roids. In my 120 I use it once a week or less and only 1/4 teaspoon. It will raise po4 quite fast.
What are you using to test for no3&po4?
I had similar on rock work and vibrant cleared it up in about 6 weeks. Mine was only on caribsea dead rock and not on any live rock.

Contrariwise · Jan 25, 2020

90's reefer said:
How big is the tank? Stop the reef roids. In my 120 I use it once a week or less and only 1/4 teaspoon. It will raise po4 quite fast.
What are you using to test for no3&po4?
I had similar on rock work and vibrant cleared it up in about 6 weeks. Mine was only on caribsea dead rock and not on any live rock.

45 gals.
Will stop reef roids.
Using Red Sea Nitrate pro and Phosphate pro

Contrariwise · Jan 25, 2020

Any algae or fungus experts out there? LFS was stumped - thought fungus or sponge?

X-37B · Jan 25, 2020

I would dose vibrant. Here is my tank before and after pic. About 6 weeks apart. I started at half dose for 2 weeks then full. Stopped after the bad stuff was gone.
Tank is 4 months old in first pic and 6 months old in second.

Contrariwise · Jan 25, 2020

90's reefer said:
I would dose vibrant. Here is my tank before and after pic. About 6 weeks apart. I started at half dose for 2 weeks then full. Stopped after the bad stuff was gone.
Tank is 4 months old in first pic and 6 months old in second.

Did you change anything else beyond using vibrant? I was told vibrant can mess with LPS.

X-37B · Jan 25, 2020

No. I have 50+ corals in my tank. Few lps. I started at half dose to be sure. No issues at all.
Just took this pic.

Bret Brinkmann · Jan 27, 2020

The right snails will keep your sandbed clean indefinitely. I see you have an astrea snail but they tend to spend most of their time on the rocks and glass. I have keep various types of cerith snails for the last 4 years and ever since they were introduced my sand has been clean with zero effort from me.

I wouldn't recommend both snails and Vibrant though as it will prevent any growth that your snails would need to stay alive. I have only heard that Vibrant effects the more sensitive SPS. Never looked for examples though.

Snails & conchs that keep sandbeds clean.

I see a lot of posts involving sandbeds with diatom, cyanobacteria, and green hair algae in large patches or that completely taken over. I wanted to demonstrate an easy and fun way to reduce and possibly completely eliminate these nuisances from a sandbed. Snails and conchs can be a highly...

www.reef2reef.com

Contrariwise · Jan 27, 2020

Here are some "After" w/c shots. The rust/brown colored algae easily sucks up with little mechanical force needed. Really hoping for an ID for this slimy stuff. I'm sure I'm not the only weirdo out there to grow this!

SebastianM · Jan 27, 2020

Personally I’ve noticed an algae bloom after using Reef Roids also in my 10 gallon nano, the stuff is super nutritious. I have a brown hair algae, I introduced a turbo snail, he munches the stuff up. I also started dosing vibrant, which I’ve heard some good stuff about.