Algae Identification Help

ReefSoup · Jun 10, 2020

Hey all,

Looking for some help identifying what's going on in the attached picture. I added my first corals about a month ago and while I'm getting new growth, I'm having a bit of an algae issue, especially on my zoas. It started off as a bit of what I assumed was just green algae on the frag plug and I wasn't too concerned. Well now it's turned into this ugly mess which looks to me like a combination of bryopsis and some other green algae and is spreading to the adjacent rocks. Any suggestions on exactly what it is and any treatment before it gets worse?

andrewey · Jun 10, 2020

I believe you are dealing with two pests- the stalks are likely bryopsis or a wire algae. The mat looks like the green variant of cyanobacteria.

ReefSoup · Jun 15, 2020

My wife was able to use a microscope at work and take a look at a sample of what's in the photo. It was tough to get a photo, but at a lower magnification, this is what showed:

To me, it doesn't quite look like the examples I've seen of bryopsis under a microscope, but is this enough for anyone to give a positive ID?

At a slightly higher magnification, the green to me looks like it has the cell structure of algae and not the typical "chain" formation cyano would display: