Macro algae on glass

ClownWrangler

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This is a 10 gallon tank I set up only a month or so ago. I threw in some flame algae a small live rock with a BTA, which is doing well. nitrates have been fairly low, such that I actually had a GHA die off. However I just saw this on the glass. Frags are less than 1/4 inch. It doesn't look like the flame algae at all. Red ogo?


20210719_231224.jpg
 

Fish Think Pink

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This is a 10 gallon tank I set up only a month or so ago. I threw in some flame algae a small live rock with a BTA, which is doing well. nitrates have been fairly low, such that I actually had a GHA die off. However I just saw this on the glass. Frags are less than 1/4 inch. It doesn't look like the flame algae at all. Red ogo?


20210719_231224.jpg
vote not red ogo - I grow that and doesn't seem same - going to watch and see what others vote it may be...
 

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Where did live rock come from? Was it diver collected?

@ClownWrangler
Terms like Red Ogo & Flame Algae are vague. Check out this free guide from Gulf Coast EcoSystem and locate your macro species. I suspect it needs to grow out more to be able to identify.


In April, I received 100 lbs of diver collected uncured live rock from 30’ of water 30 miles west of Tampa Bay. I set up two tanks (55G & 30G) to cure this live rock. Once cured, I placed select pieces in 75G & 120G display. When rock came in only money plant was visible due to heavy herbivore consumers. Now I have red macro I can’t identify.

After 4 months removed from Gulf of Mexico, this 2 lb rock has three different Halymenia (Dragons Breath) and Bortacladia (Red Grapes)
 

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ClownWrangler

ClownWrangler

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Where did live rock come from? Was it diver collected?

@ClownWrangler
Terms like Red Ogo & Flame Algae are vague. Check out this free guide from Gulf Coast EcoSystem and locate your macro species. I suspect it needs to grow out more to be able to identify.


In April, I received 100 lbs of diver collected uncured live rock from 30’ of water 30 miles west of Tampa Bay. I set up two tanks (55G & 30G) to cure this live rock. Once cured, I placed select pieces in 75G & 120G display. When rock came in only money plant was visible due to heavy herbivore consumers. Now I have red macro I can’t identify.

After 4 months removed from Gulf of Mexico, this 2 lb rock has three different Halymenia (Dragons Breath) and Bortacladia (Red Grapes)

I share your frustration with the loose names people use, but even with guides and pictures it can be very difficult to identify as there are many species that look identical. The rock came out of the sump of another tank that was over a year old and at one point had scraps of "Pom Pom" and "flame" algae in it. There were pieces of red razor as well. Before that it came from a LFS in a dark tank of rocks. No idea where it originated. Fiji maybe.

I like your setup by the way. I always found it odd that people hide away macro algae in the sump when you can just use it to make a balanced habitat in the display tank. I've been contemplating a 55 gallon setup with a 20G long underneath as a display refugium. Coral in the top tank and a macro lagoon in the bottom.
 
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ClownWrangler

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Looks more like a Sponge the way its growing against the glass

I just looked and its gone. This is why I will never buy macro algae "frags". Creatures just come in the night and devour them.

I tried to identify this algae from pictures. Its the "flame" algae I was talking about. Looks totally different grown under different lighting conditions. Higher light washes out the color. Is it just Gracilaria? I've been trying to find the "dragons breath" with orange tips, but wondering if its just this stuff with burnt tips.

20210724_154313.jpg 20210724_154346.jpg 20210724_154410.jpg 20210724_154420.jpg
 

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I just looked and its gone. This is why I will never buy macro algae "frags". Creatures just come in the night and devour them.

I tried to identify this algae from pictures. Its the "flame" algae I was talking about. Looks totally different grown under different lighting conditions. Higher light washes out the color. Is it just Gracilaria? I've been trying to find the "dragons breath" with orange tips, but wondering if its just this stuff with burnt tips.

20210724_154313.jpg 20210724_154346.jpg 20210724_154410.jpg 20210724_154420.jpg

The first picture looks like Gracilaria Hayi. Is it somewhat brittl?
 
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The first picture looks like Gracilaria Hayi. Is it somewhat brittl?

Somewhat brittle, but not fragile. It will break apart if handled rough but it stays in clumps for the most part, some as big as 10 inches across with a distinctive base that branches out like it could have been attached to something at a single point, not just free floating like chaeto. All 4 pictues are from the same source and supposed to be the same thing, but the higher light washes out the color and some has more split ends than others. Could be a mix of different types, but the color was the same when I got it, kind of purplish to dark red depending on the lighting
 

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