what is this? and please help me get rid of it

drewstaxplaya · Sep 20, 2017

starting to cover most of my frag plugs. need this gone. what is it and how can it be removed? thanks in advance

thejuice24 · Sep 20, 2017

Looks like hair algae...

Oldsalt01 · Sep 20, 2017

It looks like green hair algae, although the photos don't have enough resolution to be sure. I did notice that in the top photo, the second plug down has what looks like two little heads of the dreaded Bubble Algae on the left side of the plug. If that is the case you need to remove the plug from the tank, scrape off the bubbles and apply hydrogen peroxide on a q-tip to that spot. If you don't you may end up with my issue which is going to require sterilizing the tank and replacing all my rock. Once this stuff gets established it's a ***** to get rid of. As for the GHA, the best way to determine if that's what it is to pull the plug out. If the algae collapses into a green blob you can be pretty sure that's what it is. Usually means your nutrient load is high. As for how to get rid of it, the best way is with a Starry or a Lawnmower Blenny. And drop your nutrient load. IMHO.

drewstaxplaya · Sep 21, 2017

two people said on the fb groups it looks like bryopsis. i can try and get better pix tomorrow, as both diagnosis look pretty bad smh. also will get a better pic of that bubble, however it could be an air bubble bc my powerhead shoots them out sometimes

Lninwa · Sep 21, 2017

Looks like bryopsis to me. Use Fluconozole. I used it and got rid of it. The dose is 20mg/gal of water. I'm sorry I don't have the website to buy the Fluconozole

Oldsalt01 · Sep 21, 2017

The easy way to determine bryopsis or not: lift the plug out of the water. If it retains it's shape it probably is. If it becomes a slimy green lump it's GHA.

drewstaxplaya · Sep 21, 2017

tried to get a little better pix to help shed light on the situation

Oldsalt01 · Sep 21, 2017

I'm still thinking GHA. While there are several species of bryopsis, most have a "feathery" appearance and I'm just not seeing it in the pics. The issue really is the fact it's growing around the zoa heads. You can manually pull the stuff off, but that's a stop-gap ploy. Check for elevated nitrate and phosphate levels. That's often a cause of this stuff spreading. It obviously came in on the plugs and dipping won't help prevent introduction.

drewstaxplaya · Sep 21, 2017

had phosphate levels checked 6 days ago. .03 and 1. alk is 8, cal is 460 and mag is 1260. i showed pix to the lfs guy he suggested a sea hare so im going to grab one now

Oldsalt01 · Sep 21, 2017

My bad. I took a closer look at the pictures and I AM seeing feathery ends on some of the stalks so I am inclined to agree it's bryopsis. Profuse apologies.