Algae ID - Bryopsis?

[burner7]

My tank is about 2 months old and I added TBS live rock about 3 weeks ago. I am trying to identify this algae that has been popping up in my sand. Is it bryopsis? It pulls up easily with short roots and no rhizomes. My astrea and nassarius snails don't seem to eat it.

 

[EnterName]

Looks pretty much like it.

Usually I say that all algae growth is totally normal during the first months when the ugly phase hits, but I have not gathered any experience with a bryopsis ugly phase... Usually the green hair algae (e.g. Derbesia) dies down on its own, but I don't know if that applies to Bryopsis.

Maybe someone else knows if this is a problem.

 

[burner7]

Yeah that is my thought too. Not sure if I should just try to siphon out as much as I can or go scorched earth on it with some fluconazole. It is definitely spreading so I am leaning towards the latter.

 

[jackintheboxfish]

Yeah it looks like bryopsis and in my experience they don't go away after the ugly phase. They spread like crazy no matter how low the nutrients are and nothing eats them except for lettuce nudibranch (allegedly I never tried them myself).

Fluconazole works like a charm and doesn't seem to impact anything else except for GHA which is a beneficial side effect imo. You just need to keep the skimmer off or let the skimmate go back into the tank during treatment