What kind of algae is this?

[dlc]

 

[maleks.reef]

Looks like green hair algae. What is that zoa called? looks cool.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Agreed it’s green hair algae.
Emerald crabs, hermits, and trochus/astrea snails do a good job with it, but manual removal is mandatory.

 

[ZombieEngineer]

Probably Green Hair Algae assuming it takes very little force to remove from the rock. If it slides of with a toothbrush, it's GHA and you need to get your nutrients in check as well as increase your cleanup crew size.

If you try with a toothbrush and it will not come off even with a really strong scrub, you might actually have bryopsis. If that is the case, fluconazole seems to be the only way to get rid of it.

 

[dlc]

Sorry, iPad acting up. Some details, moss like, peels off fairly easily. Seems to prefer the darker areas. I drained the tank down to within 3 inches of the bottom about 10 days ago and slathered it with hydrogen peroxide. It turns white and dies but comes back fast. My rock flowers didn’t like the HP so afraid to do that again. Vibrant does nothing to it. Emerald crabs don’t touch it. It’s in a 10 gallon so I doubt an urchin would work as the tank is too small.
nitrate is 0, alkalinity 7.6, salinity 1.025. Should I try reef flux?

 

[dlc]

I do 2 to 3 gallon water changes weekly

 

[sixty_reefer]

Sorry, iPad acting up. Some details, moss like, peels off fairly easily. Seems to prefer the darker areas. I drained the tank down to within 3 inches of the bottom about 10 days ago and slathered it with hydrogen peroxide. It turns white and dies but comes back fast. My rock flowers didn’t like the HP so afraid to do that again. Vibrant does nothing to it. Emerald crabs don’t touch it. It’s in a 10 gallon so I doubt an urchin would work as the tank is too small.
nitrate is 0, alkalinity 7.6, salinity 1.025. Should I try reef flux?

Is your po4 low also?
Ph?

 

[Sharkbait19]

Is the algae slimy or more like seaweed? If it is slimy it could be green cyano algae.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Large mass of green hair algae. You will need to start by pulling as much as you can by hand. This is no snail clean up but rather one in which you will want to utilize pencil or pin cushion urchins, dolabella sea hare or even fighting conchs.
After erradication, utilze snails such as Nassarious, astrea, cerith and nerite and a few Carribean blue leg hermits

Are you using RODI water or tap water from the faucet?
Is your tank at or near a window ?

 

[dlc]

Just tested .10

 

[ZombieEngineer]

Don't use vibrant. It was recently discovered in maybe February that vibrant is chemically identical to API algaefix, an algaecide not bacteria.

Fluconazole (reef flux) can bandaid GHA but will not get rid of it long term.

My suggestion would be to manually remove everything you can, do higher than usual water changes, cut your feedings, and increase the size of your cleanup crew (my 65 gallon has 2 turbos, a tuxedo urchin, 15 ceriths, 10 hermits, 6 trochus, 10 nassarius, and a lawnmower blenny for a reference point).

You also may want to consider a carbon/gfo dual reactor and definitely a refugium if you don't have one. If you do have a refugium, increase your lighting to 16 hours a day and turn your display lights down a little if they are dimmable.

 

[dlc]

Is it green hair algae even if it remains short And only occurs in the shady areas? There is none at the top of the tank. Remember it’s a 10 gallon so limited as far as cuc goes. I spend 30 mins weekly weeding it out and my tennis elbow is getting worse. No daylight hits the tank. can An urchin survive in a 10 gallon?

 

[sixty_reefer]

Just tested .10

Do you know your ph?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Vibrant and flux are often alternatives and not solutions

 

[vetteguy53081]

Is it green hair algae even if it remains short And only occurs in the shady areas? There is none at the top of the tank. Remember it’s a 10 gallon so limited as far as cuc goes. I spend 30 mins weekly weeding it out and my tennis elbow is getting worse. No daylight hits the tank. can An urchin survive in a 10 gallon?

a pencil urchin 2" is very suitable

 

[ZombieEngineer]

Is it green hair algae even if it remains short And only occurs in the shady areas? There is none at the top of the tank. Remember it’s a 10 gallon so limited as far as cuc goes. I spend 30 mins weekly weeding it out and my tennis elbow is getting worse. No daylight hits the tank. can An urchin survive in a 10 gallon?

It's possible that it's turf algae. If it remains short but is also easy to remove. Is the algae coarse/wirey or is it smooth and slimy? If it's coarse/wirey reef flux will help.

10 gallon can still have like 2-3 hermits, 2 trochus, a few cerith, and a few nassarius.

An urchin is most definitely too big for a 10 gallon. It would be fine for the moment while you are clearing out this algae, but if you ever resolve the root cause you will need to remove it or it's just gonna starve.

 

[bnord]

My fall back would be a donabella when it gets this dense, as mentioned above, but you will need to make sure your LFS will take it back when things get cleaned up - and try for a small one. they are clearly one of the most unlovable creatures you will ever put into a tank, until you see the GHA disappear

A small pencil or tuxedo are also good options, again maybe the LFS will take them back if the grow too much. avoid the white short spine species

But you will still need to address the root (so to speak) cause(s). IMO your current nutrient levels will be misleading as the GHA is soaking them up.

Need to look at modifying the type/amount os food going in, if you have control shift your lights away from Whites and reds, if you have only moderate coral load ( I see the nice zoas), limit the hours and overall intensity and allow your snail/crab clean up crew to get a handle on it. Never had a tail spot blenny, but I hear they will graze too.

If you can take one rock out at a time, you can peroxide and scrub them - one at a time

Have been where you are and you can get to where you want to be - but it will not be overnight.

And IMO avoid he from the bottle solutions

Buenos suerte

 

[dlc]

Thought I would follow up. I finally treated with reef flux and slowly the algae is disappearing. All those hours spent removing it manually ugh. I bought an emerald crab that is working on the bubble algae. What a relief!