Green Wiry Algae Taking hold: what is this stuff?

[Z Burn's Reefing]

I’ve got this wiry / grass type algae taking hold, it almost looks like a macro algae…never had this kind before in all my years in the hobby. Looks like thin grass blades (no leafing out like bryopsis). Much more stiff than your typical green hair algae. I think I have something in the tank that periodically mows it down (maybe my turbo snails or maybe blue legged hermits?)….it doesn’t fully go away but gets a hair cut and stays in check. Any ideas what this is and how do I manage it? Should I try some emeralds? Or just up my turbos and hermits? I’ve tried pulling it out with tweezers, super tedious though. Give me some hope!

(Tank is sps dominant)

Thanks

Pics

 

[exnisstech]

Looks very similar to what I have in my sps tank. I have the dark coraline like yours all over the rocks too. Sorry I can't help with an ID. I cant see much of mine unless I turn on the whites so I just don't turn them on lol. I think my 2 tangs help keep it from getting out of hand.

 

[Z Burn's Reefing]

Looks very similar to what I have in my sps tank. I have the dark coraline like yours all over the rocks too. Sorry I can't help with an ID. I cant see much of mine unless I turn on the whites

Curious if you have Tampa bay saltwater rock at all? I seeded my tank with that and wondering if it came in on that.

Does your sps encrust over this stuff? Trying to figure out if I need to pull it where the corals are encrusting so it doesn’t impede growth.

 

[UMALUM]

Cladophoropsis... I would start digging it out asap. You could possibly try an urchin but he'll likely feast on more preferable items before helping with that. Not sure if there's a solid consumer of it but it is a macro and will creep quick especially on mature rock.

 

[Z Burn's Reefing]

Cladophoropsis... I would start digging it out asap. You could possibly try an urchin but he'll likely feast on more preferable items before helping with that. Not sure if there's a solid consumer of it but it is a macro and will creep quick especially on mature rock.

Oh geeze, doesnt sound good, how do I remove it? If i take a tooth brush to it, I am sure it will just float around everywhere. Will it spread that way? Picking it out with tweezers would probably take an eternity. I am pretty sure it is creeping quickly like you state...its really the only algae I have in the tank besides coraline (purple and maroon).

 

[exnisstech]

Curious if you have Tampa bay saltwater rock at all? I seeded my tank with that and wondering if it came in on that.

Does your sps encrust over this stuff? Trying to figure out if I need to pull it where the corals are encrusting so it doesn’t impede growth.

Mine was a dry rock start up with some rock rubble from another established tank.
My frags are encrusting.

 

[UMALUM]

Oh geeze, doesnt sound good, how do I remove it? If i take a tooth brush to it, I am sure it will just float around everywhere. Will it spread that way? Picking it out with tweezers would probably take an eternity. I am pretty sure it is creeping quickly like you state...its really the only algae I have in the tank besides coraline (purple and maroon).

I had it years ago and back then it was a razor blade and dental pick. You gotta get down to the foot. It's gonna float when your working on it just keep a net near by. It's a pain but you can beat it.

 

[TailspotBlenny]

I have the same stuff. Not sure where it came from because when it started taking off I had only added fish and snails with dry Marco rock. Was hoping an urchin would take care of it but so far it's only eating the very top of the rocks, not getting in between. I spend a few hours every water change scrubbing all the rocks with a hard plastic brush and it just comes back within a week because I can't get the roots.

Can I ask what type of tweezers you are using, if they are working well to at least get it off temporarily?

 

[Z Burn's Reefing]

Hi there, I can't say my tweezers and dental pick routine are doing much good. It's overwhelming to be honest, so I just set aside 30 minutes each week during my water change routine and scrape/pick out as much as possible. Mostly, I am clearing the area around frags and where my corals are mounted.

These are the tweezers I use, but it's super tedious:
tweezers

Honestly, I have found more success by adding several hermit crabs and stopping all coral foods or small particulate foods (i.e., reef roids, oyster feast, aminos, etc). I just feed my fish and that seems to have really slowed it down and the hermits seem to be making a dent in it. Do you have quite a few hermits? If not, may be worth a try.

So a multi-prong approach of sorts: heavy wet skimming, stopping particulate/coral foods, added a bunch of hermits, scrub/pull it out weekly. Progress is being made, but not sure if this is a long-term solution though as I don't want my nutrients to drop too low and harm my coarls. I want to give the hermits a few more weeks to see what they can do. Also, I am considering adding an algae scrubber...I want to be able to feed heavy again at some point...the stuff just explodes the next day after feeding heavy. I went the hermit route and strengthened my crew because several I pm'd that had dealt with this wiry stuff in the past said they added a bunch of hermits and it finally just slowly went away.

 

[TailspotBlenny]

Thanks for the link for the tweezers.

What type of hermits do you have? Will any kind eat it? I never had them because I heard about them killing snails but at this point my snails are dying anyway, I think because this terrible algae has taken over all other types and they won’t eat it.

Do you have a foxface? I had one in a prior tank that seemed to eat any and all algae. But now I downsized and my tank is too small for one.

I may also try feeding less for a while. I’ve been feeding a mix with fine food particles included and maybe I’ll go back to plain mysis and a few pellets. I was testing 0 nitrate and phosphate for a while so that’s why I was feeding more but now I have a little of both again.

 

[UMALUM]

Thanks for the link for the tweezers.

What type of hermits do you have? Will any kind eat it? I never had them because I heard about them killing snails but at this point my snails are dying anyway, I think because this terrible algae has taken over all other types and they won’t eat it.

Do you have a foxface? I had one in a prior tank that seemed to eat any and all algae. But now I downsized and my tank is too small for one.

I may also try feeding less for a while. I’ve been feeding a mix with fine food particles included and maybe I’ll go back to plain mysis and a few pellets. I was testing 0 nitrate and phosphate for a while so that’s why I was feeding more but now I have a little of both again.

I wouldn't worry about nutrients as this stuff can and will thrive in uln systems. That's why it's so important to dig out asap. No need to take a chance bottoming out. As for consumers the tank I had it in had 12 or so tangs and two rabbits and nothing touched it. Not sure what your working with but flipping the rocks upside down and placing on the sand did smother it. You could also try and smother it with some coral gum?

 

[TailspotBlenny]

Here’s what it looks like in between cleanings and a close up of the algae. I think it’s the same type as the OP.

I do flip the rocks when I clean them. I don’t have them all glued together and my corals are still on frag plugs so I take all the rocks out and scrub like crazy. Tried 3 day blackout, didn’t help, tried hydrogen peroxide dip on all rocks, still came back.

 

[MoshJosh]

I have a similar algae that pops up on occasion. . . I haven't decided what causes it to take off. . . I run low nutrients and I am not sure if this pops up when they bottom out or when they spike above normal, my guess is the latter (super helpful I know haha). For me it has been a combination of manual removal and adding clean up crew. . . in my 11 gallon tank I added a pitho crab and he seems to do a good job of ripping this of the rocks and eating it.

My advice would be remove and trim (I literally used a tiny pair of scissors to trim some of the longer bits) as much as possible. Then add some blue leg hermits, emerald crabs, and pitho crabs. Do your best not to feed the crabs, directly or indirectly, and resign yourself to the fact that the crabs might snack on a coral every now and then. . .

 

[TailspotBlenny]

I will be ordering some hermits and maybe other crabs soon. I was hoping the urchin I got a few weeks ago would help but it just keeps moving to the glass even though there’s not much algae there. When it is on the rocks it can’t really get in between them anyway.

 

[UMALUM]

Here’s what it looks like in between cleanings and a close up of the algae. I think it’s the same type as the OP.

I do flip the rocks when I clean them. I don’t have them all glued together and my corals are still on frag plugs so I take all the rocks out and scrub like crazy. Tried 3 day blackout, didn’t help, tried hydrogen peroxide dip on all rocks, still came back.

Yikes! If it were me..... I would take the rock out, scrub it in peroxide and store it in a container of new saltwater with a lot of flow. Testing the phosphate and doing 100% water changes imo will be the only way to naturally get back on track. I'm not sure if anyone has had luck using Flux or any of these other things on the market with this stuff but back in the day Vibrant didn't touch it. The reason it can thrive even in uln systems is because its feeding off the phosphate in your rock.

 

[TailspotBlenny]

Yikes! If it were me..... I would take the rock out, scrub it in peroxide and store it in a container of new saltwater with a lot of flow. Testing the phosphate and doing 100% water changes imo will be the only way to naturally get back on track. I'm not sure if anyone has had luck using Flux or any of these other things on the market with this stuff but back in the day Vibrant didn't touch it. The reason it can thrive even in uln systems is because its feeding off the phosphate in your rock.

I think I’ll try the crabs first. I was looking into the Flux but I hesitate adding anything to my tank because several years ago in a prior tank I used Vibrant for some minor sand algae and my corals went downhill after. Could have been that or something else, who knows, but I’d rather not add anything without knowing long term effects.

 

[UMALUM]

I think I’ll try the crabs first. I was looking into the Flux but I hesitate adding anything to my tank because several years ago in a prior tank I used Vibrant for some minor sand algae and my corals went downhill after. Could have been that or something else, who knows, but I’d rather not add anything without knowing long term effects.

I was referring to adding something like Flux if you decided to treat and cure the rock of phosphate in a separate container. A buddy of mine did it while also running a ton of phosguard in a canister for gha and it worked well. Good luck

 

[TailspotBlenny]

I was referring to adding something like Flux if you decided to treat and cure the rock of phosphate in a separate container. A buddy of mine did it while also running a ton of phosguard in a canister for gha and it worked well. Good luck

Okay, thanks.

 

[Tritie]

This is the wiry green algae in my tank. It's several inches long and feels like a horses tail. It attaches to everything, including glass. It doesn't branch and I have no clue what it is.

 

[TailspotBlenny]

This is the wiry green algae in my tank. It's several inches long and feels like a horses tail. It attaches to everything, including glass. It doesn't branch and I have no clue what it is.

Looks the same. Mine grows on the glass too.