White stringy "feelers" extending out of the uglies

[Tman007]

My new tank is at 3 months since cycling and the diatoms have come and gone. In my second phase of algae, I'm seeing something that I haven't seen in any of the threads here -- little white string-like feelers growing out of these algae areas (pic attached).

Can anyone point me in the right direction on these?
Should I be concerned, or just let them be?

(My parameters: SG 1.025, Nitrates 15, pH 8.0, dKH 8.8, Phosphates 0. No livestock yet - my first pair of clownfish are just finishing up their quarantine.)

 

[Tankalicious]

My new tank is at 3 months since cycling and the diatoms have come and gone. In my second phase of algae, I'm seeing something that I haven't seen in any of the threads here -- little white string-like feelers growing out of these algae areas (pic attached).

Can anyone point me in the right direction on these?
Should I be concerned, or just let them be?

(My parameters: SG 1.025, Nitrates 15, pH 8.0, dKH 8.8, Phosphates 0. No livestock yet - my first pair of clownfish are just finishing up their quarantine.)

Clear with black strips/dots?

I have the same thing and nearly the same stage in my cycle as you are.

Following to see the answer. Mine seem to live in a piece of live rock I bought from LFS, I know there is at least one bristle worm living in the rock.

 

[Tman007]

Good to know that someone else is seeing a similar growth. Yes mine are clear, but no black spots or stripes. I would describe it as almost like very fine fishing line (the type people use for fly fishing). I'm attaching another pic from the angle facing the algae growth (my algae is mostly growing on the faces that get occasional sunlight).

The only live stuff I've added to my tank so far are live sand (CaribSea Arag-Alive) and nitrifying bacteria (Bio-Spria). My rock was clean dry base rock.

Anybody have any advice on these clear wiry threads growing out of my algae? I'll probably give them a scrubbing during my next water change unless someone advises me otherwise...

 

[Tman007]

Well, I tried scrubbing these stringy threads with a toothbrush, and they are really latched onto the rock...

#reefsquad any help appreciated! Are these worms or algae feelers or something else?

 

[Tman007]

My new tank is at 3 months since cycling and the diatoms have come and gone. In my second phase of algae, I'm seeing something that I haven't seen in any of the threads here -- little white string-like feelers growing out of these algae areas (pic attached).

Can anyone point me in the right direction on these?
Should I be concerned, or just let them be?

(My parameters: SG 1.025, Nitrates 15, pH 8.0, dKH 8.8, Phosphates 0. No livestock yet - my first pair of clownfish are just finishing up their quarantine.)

Bump...
Maybe I'm not posting this in the right forum?
Or have I uncovered an issue that has stumped even the #reefsquad experts?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

[NashobaTek]

The only thing I can think of is a type of sponge, but I don't think that's it.
Maybe a odd type of algae? I really don't know.

 

[ying yang]

I had something similar and got told " calothrix "
But also look up hydroids
But im really new and can only go by what ive read sorry.but keep bumping this,im sure someone give a correct 100% answer shortly for you

 

[kaylajoy]

When you touch the strand are they slimy/snot like? Do they retract when you try to pull them off?

I had something very similar to that and assumed it was dinos. Eventually the strands grew out into a thicker mat. No positive ID though.

 

[Tman007]

I had something similar and got told " calothrix "
But also look up hydroids
But im really new and can only go by what ive read sorry.but keep bumping this,im sure someone give a correct 100% answer shortly for you

Thanks for the input. When I look up calothrix, it appears to be more of a white fuzz rather than the single strands that I have. I did look up hydroids, and I do see that "digitate hydroids" look kind of similar except they appear to have very small branches/arms near the tip.

When you touch the strand are they slimy/snot like? Do they retract when you try to pull them off?

I had something very similar to that and assumed it was dinos. Eventually the strands grew out into a thicker mat. No positive ID though.

Hmmm, I'll have to check again to see. When I've tried pulling them out with my fingers, they are so thin that I couldn't even feel them or grab them. I didn't notice them retracting but I'll check this again.

I might try pulling some out with tweezers.

Any other ideas from the expert crowd?

 

[Tman007]

An update on the long stringy threads growing in a couple dozen places in my 3-month-old tank...

I finally had time to pluck them and view under a microscope. As shown in the attached pics, they appear to be simple green cells all in a row to make the string. No arms or branches or mouths. They look fairly benign but I'm not an expert.

The one pic that looks dirty is how one of the 20 threads looked. All the others had the clean green cells.

#reefsquad Anybody have a clue? I just want to make sure these are not going to be a problem?

 

[NashobaTek]

No clue but watching to find out

 

[Idoc]

An update on the long stringy threads growing in a couple dozen places in my 3-month-old tank...

I finally had time to pluck them and view under a microscope. As shown in the attached pics, they appear to be simple green cells all in a row to make the string. No arms or branches or mouths. They look fairly benign but I'm not an expert.

The one pic that looks dirty is how one of the 20 threads looked. All the others had the clean green cells.

#reefsquad Anybody have a clue? I just want to make sure these are not going to be a problem?

I'm not an expert with algae identifications, but the microscope slides look like green hair algae strands.

 

[ScottR]

This is typical in a new start up. Algae will inevitably grow and this doesn’t look like the nuisance type. As you add in corals, fish, inverts, etc and you start feeding the tank, you’ll see other types of algae come and go as they’ll compete with each other.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Looks like a combo of GHA and cyano

 

[Tman007]

I'm not an expert with algae identifications, but the microscope slides look like green hair algae strands.

This is typical in a new start up. Algae will inevitably grow and this doesn’t look like the nuisance type. As you add in corals, fish, inverts, etc and you start feeding the tank, you’ll see other types of algae come and go as they’ll compete with each other.

Looks like a combo of GHA and cyano

Thanks for all the feedback - this helps! I'll keep monitoring to keep it from getting out of control.

 

[uninformed]

@Tman007, did you ever figure out what these strings were? Did they cause any more problems? I'm seeing the same thing now in a relatively new tank: random locations, unable to grab them, and they are clearly irritating my zoas.