Help with algae ID please

[Eclyps19]

can anyone ID this algae? Does it all seem to be the same?

My nutrients are extremely low as I’m in the middle of a fallow. I really want to bring my nutrients up to give my coral a boost, but want to knock this junk out first. I’ve manually scrubbed it a number of times, but it continues to come back. Usually grows in patches that looks more like a clump of grass.

Recommendations for removal that won’t hurt my corals/inverts?

Nitrates and phosphates are near zero.

 

[Mjrenz]

It kind of looks like hair algae but it's hard to tell from your pics. Can you get a pic of it under white lights and post all of your water parameters? Also, the age of your tank and additional info on your setup will help

 

[Eclyps19]

Here are some better photos. I scraped off most of what was easily reachable last night, but these are pretty much the same.

 

[ccombs]

I vote green hair, but there are other experts on here that could certainly prove me wrong.

 

[Eclyps19]

What was putting me off of GHA was that it’s not very “soft” looking and tends to grow in clumps where I can grab a little root ball or something to rip it off (usually).

Tank is about 4.5 months old, fallow for about 20 days now. Phos is 0, I have new nitrate tests coming today, but previous readings have been <1ppm. CUC is roughly:
3 scarlet hermits, 8ish red/blue hermits, 4 astrea snails, 2 trochus snails, 1 fighting conch, and 1 cleaner shrimp. Tank is 30 gallons.

 

[ccombs]

What was putting me off of GHA was that it’s not very “soft” looking and tends to grow in clumps where I can grab a little root ball or something to rip it off (usually).

Tank is about 4.5 months old, fallow for about 20 days now. Phos is 0, I have new nitrate tests coming today, but previous readings have been <1ppm. CUC is roughly:
3 scarlet hermits, 8ish red/blue hermits, 4 astrea snails, 2 trochus snails, 1 fighting conch, and 1 cleaner shrimp. Tank is 30 gallons.

Hmmm, thanks for the added info, let me think here.

 

[Mjrenz]

I'm thinking it may be gha but could be releasing easy because phosphate is low and it's weak. Any experts wanna weigh in?

 

[Idaho Mojo]

Definitely not gha, as the OP algae has central stem structure with branches and lacks the real "filamentous" texture. It appears to be closer to bryopsis.

Increasing mag levels would help, but I recommend getting a cowrie snail.

 

[Idaho Mojo]

@Eclyps19 does it look like this stuff?

 

[Eclyps19]

@Eclyps19 does it look like this stuff?

I would say that it looks closer to that, but... I guess just slightly less “fern-like”. But much more like that than just strings of yuck.

That’s Bryopsis, right?

 

[Idaho Mojo]

I would say that it looks closer to that, but... I guess just slightly less “fern-like”. But much more like that than just strings of yuck.

That’s Bryopsis, right?

Yes that would be bryopsis. When you're doing manual removal, try to have a siphon going to get any little bits, it will regrow from very small fragments.

The fern like look starts becoming more obvious when it grows out more.

 

[Eclyps19]

So is the magnesium and/or cowrie a better bet than Fluconazole? I’m hoping to come out of this fallow in about another month, so I’ll be fishless until then. Just want to try to get this knocked out before then.

 

[Idaho Mojo]

This picture of yours was the dead giveaway for me

 

[Idaho Mojo]

So is the magnesium and/or cowrie a better bet than Fluconazole? I’m hoping to come out of this fallow in about another month, so I’ll be fishless until then. Just want to try to get this knocked out before then.

I chose to not use fluconazole because it will kill off other things besides the bryopsis (feather dusters and worms and the like), and it isnt always successful.

I prefer more natural options to resolve problems, but many would disagree with me. Depends who you ask!

Edit: I have a 90 gallon DT that had pretty severe bryopsis. Picked up a money cowrie the size of a quarter, and a tiger cowrie about 2 inches long and it was gone in about a week.

I found out the tiger cowrie was very clumsy and I had to remove him from some tight spots between rock work, he eventually died because he got in behind some rocks that I couldn't remove. Since then, the money cowrie takes care of everything and I havent noticed any growth in over 4 months

 

[Eclyps19]

I’d certainly prefer all natural, but I’m most concerned with it just working thanks for the help, I’ll take a look at both approaches!

 

[Idaho Mojo]

I’d certainly prefer all natural, but I’m most concerned with it just working thanks for the help, I’ll take a look at both approaches!

Happy I could help! [emoji16][emoji106]

 

[Lninwa]

I’d certainly prefer all natural, but I’m most concerned with it just working thanks for the help, I’ll take a look at both approaches!

Fluconozole works extremely well on bryopsis but I didn’t know it is not good for feather dusters. Fluconozole on the other had has not work at all on what I’m thinking is gha. I even doubled the dose but no help. My LFS says it may be turf algae. Some of it is short and some has long strands. Is there a difference between gha and turf? What can I use to get rid of it? My tank is only 30 so no tangs. My wrasse ate all my cuc but she recently died so I’m adding a few snails this week

 

[Deltatail14]

I have had good luck using fluconazole with cuc. The meds should not hurt anything if dosed correctly.

 

[simpleman]

i used reef flux with great success did not hurt anything else

 

[ngoodermuth]

Fluconazole works wonders for bryopsis, and I didn’t have any negative side-effects in my tank at all when I treated.

I tried natural methods first, more CUC, even had lettuce nudibranch reproducing in my tank at the time (supposedly the babies eat it like mad) but it took the fluc treatment to actually knock it out...