Algae ID?

[jrogers3105]

(PICS IN COMMENTS!)
Had this new algae bloom recently and not sure what it is, it's green with no lights on but when my tank lights are on it appear more brown/red. it looks fibrous and is not easily ripped out cleanly with tweezers

 

[jrogers3105]

 

[EnterName]

Possibly just hair algae patches if you mean the two filamentous growths. The discoloration may stem from diatoms or cyanobacteria attaching to the filaments.

There also is a genus of cyanobacteria (Lyngbya sp.) that can look like hair algae, but maybe you can explain if it's just the light or the whole rock might be discolored and covered in something?

 

[jrogers3105]

Possibly just hair algae patches if you mean the two filamentous growths. The discoloration may stem from diatoms or cyanobacteria attaching to the filaments.

There also is a genus of cyanobacteria (Lyngbya sp.) that can look like hair algae, but maybe you can explain if it's just the light or the whole rock might be discolored and covered in something?

I definitely have cyano present in the tank but just the typical red nets, definitely discoloration on all of the rocks everywhere even some coraline on the other side of the tank, can everything just be smoothed over by getting some more trochus and maybe another mexican turbo or 2

 

[EnterName]

Possibly just hair algae patches if you mean the two filamentous growths. The discoloration may stem from diatoms or cyanobacteria attaching to the filaments.

There also is a genus of cyanobacteria (Lyngbya sp.) that can look like hair algae, but maybe you can explain if it's just the light or the whole rock might be discolored and covered in something?

I definitely have cyano present in the tank but just the typical red nets, definitely discoloration on all of the rocks everywhere even some coraline on the other side of the tank, can everything just be smoothed over by getting some more trochus and maybe another mexican turbo or 2

Coralline algae is usually something people want to keep, but cyanos and hair algae certainly aren't.
I would put a few of your already present snails next to the hair algae patches and see if they are interested at all. Adding more won't help if they don't eat it. Please make sure to losen them very slowly from wherever they are sitting to not hurt them.

It's possible (but not guaranteed) that nutrient control helps to slow sown the growth rate of the unwanted algae and bacteria. That's something I would start with so snails may be able to keep up with it. Cyanobacteria can be toxic and unpalatable so many snails might avoid it all together. In that case you might need a cyano-targeting treatment of some sort. This can range from water flow adjustments over adding competing organisms to replace the cyanos, up to a treatment with antibiotics. Before going down that road I would however try to identify all nuisances you have.

Edit: can you post nitrate, phosphate, and alkalinity parameters?
What are you dosing to maintain alkalinity, etc.?

 

[Jamie9]

Looks a lot like my green hair algae. On the one hand...annoying. On the other hand, helps absorb excess nutrients and isn't super hard to pull out by hand when it gets longer. Hand plucking, beefy CUC to eat it when it is small and nutrient control are probably the way to get rid of it. I had a tuxedo urchin that would eat the larger patches...but tuxedo urchins don't love high nitrates (which are often the cause of the green hair algae...).