Algae only on sandbed, Help!

[Nutrient_Spike]

Hello,

I am being overrun by algae only on my sandbed. I do weekly waterchanges and keep an eye on my nutrients. Any help on what algae this is (definitely not standard hair algae) and how to get rid of it, thanks! #reefsquad
Parameters:

Alk-7.0dKH
Mg-1350
Ca-390
NO3-0
PO4-0
pH-8.4

 

[nereefpat]

It looks like standard hair algae to me. Although, if you get a clear and closeup photo, it could be Bryopsis I guess.

Can you siphon it out with a hose?

How are you testing for Nitrate and Phosphate?

 

[saltyhog]

Agree, though it is strange it's only on the sand bed and not the rock. How old is the tank? Can you manually remove it easily/siphon it ?

 

[Nutrient_Spike]

It looks like standard hair algae to me. Although, if you get a clear and closeup photo, it could be Bryopsis I guess.

Can you siphon it out with a hose?

How are you testing for Nitrate and Phosphate?

Thanks for the reply, I just looked up bryopsis and it looks very similar! and it doesnt siphone easily at all, it is very stuck to the substrate and the only way to get it off is by removing the substrate with it

Ill get a close pic tomorrow with a macro lens, thanks!

 

[Nutrient_Spike]

Agree, though it is strange it's only on the sand bed and not the rock. How old is the tank? Can you manually remove it easily/siphon it ?

I thought that was weird too, never had that in my other tanks, this system is a 10 months old exactly. it doesnt siphone easily at all, it is very stuck to the substrate and the only way to get it off is by removing the substrate with it

Thanks for the reply!

 

[ReeferWarrant]

Looks like GHA to me, what do you have for a CUC? Might want to get some snails/hermits to reduce it down.

 

[KrisReef]

Bare bottom would solve your problem.

 

[Nutrient_Spike]

Looks like GHA to me, what do you have for a CUC? Might want to get some snails/hermits to reduce it down.

Many of my CUC died to dino, so i only have 1 snail. It doesnt seem like any GHA i've ever had, its growing on this frag im trying to grow but it keeps growing so rapidly that the frag wont grow

 

[Nutrient_Spike]

Bare bottom would solve your problem.

It would indeed haha, but personally can't stand the look of bare bottoms

 

[ReeferWarrant]

What type of frag is it? I had a Candy Cane end up with a lot of GHA on it's skeleton base. I took it out and applied Hydrogen Peroxide on it. The GHA died the next day and my CUC got rid of the rest.

EDIT: just the base of the skeleton not the polyps

 

[nereefpat]

I just looked up bryopsis

Bryopsis is not standard hair algae. It has a certain feathery/fern type look look to it. If you do have Bryopsis, it may take the nuclear option (Fluconazole) to rid your system of it. Let's get a closer look first.

 

[ReeferWarrant]

@nereefpat, that's the route I went with my bryopsis issue recently. Didnt affect anything else in the tank, I dosed below recommendation though.

 

[Nutrient_Spike]

What type of frag is it? I had a Candy Cane end up with a lot of GHA on it's skeleton base. I took it out and applied Hydrogen Peroxide on it. The GHA died the next day and my CUC got rid of the rest.

EDIT: just the base of the skeleton not the polyps

Its a clove polyp with 1 head

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

If in fact your N and P are 0 may point to the fact that it is bryopsis. Good thing is that it's a small enough tank that you can manually remove most if it, then try raising your N and P to healthy levels and you will have a better chance of beating it. However fluconazole is an option as well if raising nutrients doesn't do the trick.

 

[ReeferWarrant]

Its a clove polyp with 1 head

Not sure how it would do with a peroxide bath but that’s how I got rid of the Bryopsis on a Paly frag I have

 

[Nutrient_Spike]

It looks like standard hair algae to me. Although, if you get a clear and closeup photo, it could be Bryopsis I guess.

Can you siphon it out with a hose?

How are you testing for Nitrate and Phosphate?

These were the best photos i could get

 

[Nutrient_Spike]

If in fact your N and P are 0 may point to the fact that it is bryopsis. Good thing is that it's a small enough tank that you can manually remove most if it, then try raising your N and P to healthy levels and you will have a better chance of beating it. However fluconazole is an option as well if raising nutrients doesn't do the trick.

 

[ReeferWarrant]

Yeah that’s bryopsis, the branching/fern look is what makes me think that. I used Flux RX and it completely wiped it out.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Agreed looks like bryopsis

 

[Miller535]

I would caution you to raise your NO3 and PO4 BEFORE treating with fluconazole. Reason being that dino often times creep in as soon as you treat and kill some other pest. Killing the pest makes room for the dinos. And dino are far harder to get rid of then bryopsis.

One of the most common things seen on the algae threads is, I had cyano or bryopsis, then treated with (insert chemical here), then I ended up with dino everywhere within a few days.