Please Help ID this Algae

Dj A-Ron

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Hi guys. I need some help identifying this algae. I had this same algae pop up during the first 4-5 months of my tanks ugly phase. I’m not 100% sure how I got rid of it but during that time but I added a refugium, copepods, fed Live Phyto and it went away. My tank is now about 11 months old and I noticed this same algae reappearing on the rocks a couple weeks ago. I added more copepods and have been feeding phyto again, however it doesn’t seem to be helping this time. The algae is growing long on the rocks and kinda short in clumps on the sand bed. I’ve always had pretty low phosphate and nitrate but I’ve noticed my phosphate substantially lower than usual lately. I’ve been feeding a lot to help compensate the low nitrate but can’t seem to get it up. I kinda thought some of this was some sort of Dino’s cause some of the algae in the sand seems to subside when the lights are off.

Here are my water parameters:
Nitrate 1.4
Phosphate 0.05
Salinity 35
Alkalinity 8.5
Calcium 386
Magnesium 1409
PH 8.4
Temp 78

C859C818-0A4F-45D0-815D-B8A15D1E194F.jpeg 2A32BBD3-85E8-4F43-B3A1-0CD01DAE5427.jpeg F6F866D3-CAAC-465E-A22F-D4D8D78FE503.jpeg
 

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BostonReefer300

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Hi, the algae in the first two photos is bryopsis and it can be a bear to get rid of. I can't tell for sure what the algae on the sand is in the third picture, but if I blow it up I think it also looks like bryopsis. Read up on bryopsis in the algae forum---there are two sticky threads you should read: the general algae guide and the bryopsis specific thread. Good luck! PS Once you get the bryopsis under control, I'd suggest you start dosing NO3 and PO4 supplements to get your levels up to 10-15 ppm and 0.1 ppm respectively. Also, your Ca is low. Aim for 450ppm.
 

ParkerK

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Hi guys. I need some help identifying this algae. I had this same algae pop up during the first 4-5 months of my tanks ugly phase. I’m not 100% sure how I got rid of it but during that time but I added a refugium, copepods, fed Live Phyto and it went away. My tank is now about 11 months old and I noticed this same algae reappearing on the rocks a couple weeks ago. I added more copepods and have been feeding phyto again, however it doesn’t seem to be helping this time. The algae is growing long on the rocks and kinda short in clumps on the sand bed. I’ve always had pretty low phosphate and nitrate but I’ve noticed my phosphate substantially lower than usual lately. I’ve been feeding a lot to help compensate the low nitrate but can’t seem to get it up. I kinda thought some of this was some sort of Dino’s cause some of the algae in the sand seems to subside when the lights are off.

Here are my water parameters:
Nitrate 1.4
Phosphate 0.05
Salinity 35
Alkalinity 8.5
Calcium 386
Magnesium 1409
PH 8.4
Temp 78

C859C818-0A4F-45D0-815D-B8A15D1E194F.jpeg 2A32BBD3-85E8-4F43-B3A1-0CD01DAE5427.jpeg F6F866D3-CAAC-465E-A22F-D4D8D78FE503.jpeg
That’s Bryopsis my friend. Been there done that. Don’t try to pick it it will only make it worse. Good news is that there is products on the market that kill all of it. I came home from vacay and my tank was covered. The stuff is called reef flux and it’s an antibiotic that somehow kills it. I accidentally way overdosed the correct amount so ended up getting a nasty cyano outbreak as a result. Bryopsis will grow no matter what but this stuff worked and never had it again. I also threw the zoa frag in the trash that it hitchhiked on. Good luck!
 

graeve11

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Hi guys. I need some help identifying this algae. I had this same algae pop up during the first 4-5 months of my tanks ugly phase. I’m not 100% sure how I got rid of it but during that time but I added a refugium, copepods, fed Live Phyto and it went away. My tank is now about 11 months old and I noticed this same algae reappearing on the rocks a couple weeks ago. I added more copepods and have been feeding phyto again, however it doesn’t seem to be helping this time. The algae is growing long on the rocks and kinda short in clumps on the sand bed. I’ve always had pretty low phosphate and nitrate but I’ve noticed my phosphate substantially lower than usual lately. I’ve been feeding a lot to help compensate the low nitrate but can’t seem to get it up. I kinda thought some of this was some sort of Dino’s cause some of the algae in the sand seems to subside when the lights are off.

Here are my water parameters:
Nitrate 1.4
Phosphate 0.05
Salinity 35
Alkalinity 8.5
Calcium 386
Magnesium 1409
PH 8.4
Temp 78

C859C818-0A4F-45D0-815D-B8A15D1E194F.jpeg 2A32BBD3-85E8-4F43-B3A1-0CD01DAE5427.jpeg F6F866D3-CAAC-465E-A22F-D4D8D78FE503.jpeg
 

graeve11

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How new is the tank? I thought I had bryopsis and it turns out my tank was just new and it worked itself out. Mine looked just like that
 

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ParkerK

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Tank was around 8 months. Got rid of it tho and got a newer Red Sea cube!
 

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