GHA or Bryopsis

[agamblinalot]

I have maybe 4-5 small nickel size spots if this around the tank, in the corners on the glass and on my back wall. Doesn’t seem to be out of control but would like to keep it that way. PO4 is 1.1 and NO3 is 12. So basically 100:1. Tank is 3 months old. Is this Bryopsis, GHA or a bit of both? Any suggestions on keeping it at bay and even maybe getting rid of it?

 

[bubbgee]

GHA. Bryopsis will look like little ferns or green feathers into a bush formation.

 

[mcarroll]

It does look Bryops-ish in that second photo, but a clearer photo (maybe a closer shot) would help.

As for what to do? Go back in time to when you first noticed it and start pulling it out by hand and beefing up your CUC at least a little bit. (More herbivorous snails, mostly.) ;) But seriously....

Do that starting now. By hand, remove as much as you can every day – it's crucial to be thorough. Gently place one of your snails on the cleaned area you make.

Another option is to consider spot treating those areas you clear with strong hydrogen peroxide....pretty sure there's a sticky thread for that recipe. (I hope!) Wait til later to place the snail if you do the peroxide treatment.

Consider adding more CUC. If you have a UV filter, that will slow/stop the spread while you're getting it under control. Maybe consider turning down the lights a bit for now, at least the whites.

What are you feeding the tank and how often?

Do you know how the algae got started/where it came from?

 

[agamblinalot]

It does look Bryops-ish in that second photo, but a clearer photo (maybe a closer shot) would help.

As for what to do? Go back in time to when you first noticed it and start pulling it out by hand and beefing up your CUC at least a little bit. (More herbivorous snails, mostly.) ;) But seriously....

Do that starting now. By hand, remove as much as you can every day – it's crucial to be thorough. Gently place one of your snails on the cleaned area you make.

Another option is to consider spot treating those areas you clear with strong hydrogen peroxide....pretty sure there's a sticky thread for that recipe. (I hope!) Wait til later to place the snail if you do the peroxide treatment.

Consider adding more CUC. If you have a UV filter, that will slow/stop the spread while you're getting it under control. Maybe consider turning down the lights a bit for now, at least the whites.

What are you feeding the tank and how often?

Do you know how the algae got started/where it came from?

The more images I look at online the more I’m thinking it’s Bryopsis. The photo doesn’t do it justice. But it’s definitely fern like. Some is high up on the scape so I’ll treat that with H2O2. The stuff on the bottom next to corals I may just try epoxy to smother it. Turned my whites down to 10% also.

It actually came from an Astrea snail that I didn’t think to clean off thoroughly before adding to the tank.

I feed half a cube of frozen mysis for my nassarious snails, hermits, shrimp and fish. And a pinch of BRS pellets I got with the tank in the afternoon. I’m fallow at the moment getting rid of Ich so I’m just feeding the mysis for my inverts for the next month. Nutrients have never been high. Phos at most has been .1 and nitrates never got above 18.

 

[Lavey29]

Just normal 3 month tank GHA. Cut the white light. Use blue and uv only for 3 weeks. Get a diverse cleaner crew that includes tuxedo urchins and turbos. Daily manual removal with weekly water changes. Raise magnesium to 1500 which helps kill it off. GHA phase usually lasts 2 or 3 months.

 

[agamblinalot]

Just normal 3 month tank GHA. Cut the white light. Use blue and uv only for 3 weeks. Get a diverse cleaner crew that includes tuxedo urchins and turbos. Daily manual removal with weekly water changes. Raise magnesium to 1500 which helps kill it off. GHA phase usually lasts 2 or 3 months.

Yeah I figured it was just new tank stuff. Turbos are huge on my scape! But I did notice the one I put on there ate a little after I pruned it back. I have been wanting an urchin so may pick up one. It’s only a 15gal tank though…

I’ll cut the whites out completely. And just keep pruning. It’s not crazy out of control, just annoying.

 

[Lavey29]

Yeah I figured it was just new tank stuff. Turbos are huge on my scape! But I did notice the one I put on there ate a little after I pruned it back. I have been wanting an urchin so may pick up one. It’s only a 15gal tank though…

I’ll cut the whites out completely. And just keep pruning. It’s not crazy out of control, just annoying.

One tuxedo and turbo is fine in a 15g along with a few trochus and nacarius snails. Scarlet hermits are fine to and don't mess with coral.