What algae is this?

[TCOTU]

Hi everyone,

I have a RedSea425 XL system, up for 2 years. Recently I noticed these growth on the rocks that look like dust balls. I think they are some kind of algae, but my clean up crews (hermit crabs, snail and turbo snails) don't touch them, I have a yellow tang, blue tang (Dori), box fish, green mandarin, two clowns and one green chromis and one flame angel. My water parameters are good, (Nitrate at 0, phosphate 0.01, SG at 1.026), I do constant small volume water changes. I use Reef Pro salt from Tropic Marin. I have regular lighting schedule with Maxspect LED (12 hours a day, slow ramp up and down with peak lighting at 70% for about 6 hours). I dose Nopox everyday and with protein skimmer 24/7. I have chaeto algae growing in the sump with Chaetomax light on at night.

This is the first time posting for me and I am not sure if the video will show it clearly. The best way for me to describe these growth is: they seem to avoid light, growing on the underside of rocks or in the shadow. None are seen where the light is directly shining. They appear grey, not green or brown or red or black. They are small, the size of few mm. They seem fluffy and moves with water. (I have two MP40 and two Maxspect Gyra, with bare bottom, so water is constantly stirred up). They appeared a few months ago, but my system hasn't changed that much. I have added new corals but no new fish. I have dipped all corals prior to putting them into my tank.

Any help would be very appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Subsea]

Welcome to the forum. Post picture with white lights.

Check reef cleaners nuisance algae link, to see if it helps.

Nuisance Algae ID Guide- Reef Cleaners

Nuisance Algae ID Guide. Red Slime, Cyano, Cyanobacteria. Green Film Algae, Film Algae. Green Hair Algae. Green Turf Algae. Bryopsis pennata and B. plumosa. Bubble Algae, Valonia. Lobophora. Blue Green Cyano.

www.reefcleaners.org

Cotton Candy Algae
cottoncandyalgae 300x225

Algae under this heading usually appear as a light pink fuzz. Closer examination will show it is made up of many branches with even more branchlets. The plants are very small, lose form out of the water and sway in the current. Each plant forms from a single holdfast. Callithamnion species and the sporophyte stage of Asparagopsis taxiformis are usual suspects. The pictured specimen is quite good looking, they usually don't have such an aesthetic appeal, and are a dull red or reddish brown.

Manual Removal: Easy if it hasn't taken hold in places your fingers won't fit. Scrape your thumb on the surface it is attached to, while holding the algae like a pencil as you remove it. This helps you get the small holdfast.

Clean Up Crew members include urchins, sea hares, large turbos, emerald crabs and most hermit crabs.

This algae isn't particularly common, but has the ability to grow rapidly from fragments.

 

[TCOTU]

Welcome to the forum. Post picture with white lights.

Check reef cleaners nuisance algae link, to see if it helps.

Nuisance Algae ID Guide- Reef Cleaners

Nuisance Algae ID Guide. Red Slime, Cyano, Cyanobacteria. Green Film Algae, Film Algae. Green Hair Algae. Green Turf Algae. Bryopsis pennata and B. plumosa. Bubble Algae, Valonia. Lobophora. Blue Green Cyano.

www.reefcleaners.org

Cotton Candy Algae
cottoncandyalgae 300x225

Algae under this heading usually appear as a light pink fuzz. Closer examination will show it is made up of many branches with even more branchlets. The plants are very small, lose form out of the water and sway in the current. Each plant forms from a single holdfast. Callithamnion species and the sporophyte stage of Asparagopsis taxiformis are usual suspects. The pictured specimen is quite good looking, they usually don't have such an aesthetic appeal, and are a dull red or reddish brown.

Manual Removal: Easy if it hasn't taken hold in places your fingers won't fit. Scrape your thumb on the surface it is attached to, while holding the algae like a pencil as you remove it. This helps you get the small holdfast.

Clean Up Crew members include urchins, sea hares, large turbos, emerald crabs and most hermit crabs.

This algae isn't particularly common, but has the ability to grow rapidly from fragments.

Thanks for the quick and detailed reply. A quick googling of Cotton Candy Algae shows it to be larger than what is in my tank. My rocks are covered with them, like they are covered with dust balls and dirty looking. Like I said before, they are more in the shadows and crevices, so at first glance on the top of the rock, you don't see them easily. But once you see them, they are everywhere. I have three turbo snails, and hermit crabs. perhaps they can't keep up and I need more of them?