Does anyone know what type of algae this is and how to get rid of it?

msavoy

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I have this really dark, thick algae growing and it’s been hard to get rid of. I had a lot of hair algae but I got my nitrates down and it went away but this stuff continues to grow. Thanks for any help. Sorry the pics isn’t the best.

B302A639-6F38-4210-877B-F60BDBD41CA1.jpeg
 

vetteguy53081

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Bryopsis
You must remove as much as you can by hand but Mainly you HAVE TO eliminate the roots. If not - it will keep returning
A dental pick or small crochet needle will lift the roots off- then discard
Also reduce white light intensity
Is tank at or near a window?
 

sixty_reefer

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I have this really dark, thick algae growing and it’s been hard to get rid of. I had a lot of hair algae but I got my nitrates down and it went away but this stuff continues to grow. Thanks for any help. Sorry the pics isn’t the best.

B302A639-6F38-4210-877B-F60BDBD41CA1.jpeg
I can’t see any algae in this pic, can you post a pic under whites?
 

DaveWrasse

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As your coraline algae begins to cover your rocks, it will smother out those nuisance algae's. You can speed up the process by seeding your tank with coraline algae.
 
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msavoy

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Bryopsis
You must remove as much as you can by hand but Mainly you HAVE TO eliminate the roots. If not - it will keep returning
A dental pick or small crochet needle will lift the roots off- then discard
Also reduce white light intensity
Is tank at or near a window?
Ok this is good to know, thank you. It will be a tedious task but we’ll worth it if it won’t return. No it’s not by a window at all but I’ll try reducing my light intensity to see if that also helps. Thank you for your help.
 
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msavoy

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As your coraline algae begins to cover your rocks, it will smother out those nuisance algae's. You can speed up the process by seeding your tank with coraline algae.
Ok good to know. I do have some coralline algae but not much yet. I’ll look into purchasing some. Thank you
 

mdb_talon

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From that picture it does not look like bryopsis to me, but rather standard green hair algae. If it is Bryopsis the "branches" will look more like mini fern leaves. Hair algae will just be a mass of single strand algae.
 

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I have been throwing away GOBS of that stuff. Been removing rocks and scrubbing them clean to try and get it under control. Unfortunately, I have a pretty large NSA piece that has quite a few corals encrusting it now. Guess I am just going to have to continue removing what I can by hand until I can get it under control.
 

mdb_talon

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I can't see anything on those rocks, can we get a picture of what you have removed?

If you click on picture and open up there is a mass of algae to the right of the frag plug on the left and then going up also. Without zooming in it looks kind of like a shadow. Zoomed in to me it looks like GHA pretty clearly.
 

Steve and his Animals

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I had bryopsis in droves, treated the tank with flucanozole and it's all gone now. Didn't affect any of my corals either, even my acros. Check the sticky thread, there's instructions on how to use it and tons and tons of user experience there.
 
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msavoy

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From that picture it does not look like bryopsis to me, but rather standard green hair algae. If it is Bryopsis the "branches" will look more like mini fern leaves. Hair algae will just be a mass of single strand algae.
I just tried cleaning some of it by hand and it’s very velvety and thick. It’s very slimy as well and is a dark greenish brown sort of color. Here is another pic I just took.
 

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mdb_talon

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So hard to tell with pictures but found this article which may help you decide whether gha or bryopsis. It matters only to the extent that there some of the remedies may vary.

 

Jedi1199

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I just tried cleaning some of it by hand and it’s very velvety and thick. It’s very slimy as well and is a dark greenish brown sort of color. Here is another pic I just took.

Does it pull easily off the rocks or does it have some resistance?

Does it look like this?

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Took these photos today of an area that I cleaned a bit yesterday. This stuff grows thick and fluffy and must be pulled or scrubbed off the rocks, and glass... It does NOT blow off with the turkey baster.
 
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msavoy

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I have been throwing away GOBS of that stuff. Been removing rocks and scrubbing them clean to try and get it under control. Unfortunately, I have a pretty large NSA piece that has quite a few corals encrusting it now. Guess I am just going to have to continue removing what I can by hand until I can get it under control.
Yes it’s very hard to remove and it’s very slimy, it’s hard to even get a hold of it. I’ve removed most of it this evening, I’ll see if it grows back.
 
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msavoy

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I can't see anything on those rocks, can we get a picture of what you have removed?
Here’s another pic of a big chunk I pulled out.
 

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msavoy

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Does it pull easily off the rocks or does it have some resistance?

Does it look like this?

IMG_0117.JPG
IMG_0118.JPG
IMG_0119.JPG
IMG_0120.JPG
IMG_0121.JPG
IMG_0122.JPG



Took these photos today of an area that I cleaned a bit yesterday. This stuff grows thick and fluffy and must be pulled or scrubbed off the rocks, and glass... It does NOT blow off with the turkey baster.
It seems more slimy than the stuff in your pics. It’s very hard to pull off the rocks because you can’t get a grip on it. Here’s a pic of some I’ve removed. It’s very thick
 

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vetteguy53081

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From that picture it does not look like bryopsis to me, but rather standard green hair algae. If it is Bryopsis the "branches" will look more like mini fern leaves. Hair algae will just be a mass of single strand algae.
Bryopsis comes in many variants and is NOT always fern like although most notable. Bryopsis is a problem algae that looks like hair algae, but is not. If you look closely at hair algae, you will see very clearly why it gets its name. Each of the strands of hair algae is thin and filamentous, like hair. Bryopsis has thicker strands of hair and when it is well established will develope fern-like appearance.

This is mid stage bryopsis often confused with GHA:

1634768456066.png
 

vetteguy53081

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It seems more slimy than the stuff in your pics. It’s very hard to pull off the rocks because you can’t get a grip on it. Here’s a pic of some I’ve removed. It’s very thick
MB Talon may be partially correct as this looks like both GHA and bryopsis. The bottom shows those roots but the clump suggests thinner filaments.
That method I mentioned will work on both and you CAN add 1.5 ml of hydrogen peroxide at night safely for a week which will starve the nutrients both require for growth
 

elchopo

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Bryopsis
You must remove as much as you can by hand but Mainly you HAVE TO eliminate the roots. If not - it will keep returning
A dental pick or small crochet needle will lift the roots off- then discard
Also reduce white light intensity
Is tank at or near a window?
Is Bryopsis what's all over my live rock? I ordered a clean up crew from reefcleaners that I was hoping would take care of it.

1642193879085.png
 
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