Unknown algae growth and unknown coral 03/28/2008
Hello Guys and Gals. Thank you once again for all of your help!
<<G'Morning, Andrew today>>
I have an algae growth that none of my LFS can seem to tell me what it is. It shows up on my sand bed after the lights come on and seems to grow patches within the first couple hours and grows throughout the day. After the lights go out, it seems to diminish a great deal over night. I'm not sure if it's being eaten by my snails and hermits but it is a lot less in the a.m. before the lights come back on. It looks black in the tank on the sand, although I have removed some before and put in a bag to take to my LFS and it sat in the bag for a couple days and turned the water in the bag pink! Then the water turned clear eventually. It has a very fine hair like look when stirred up.
<<Yes, its a red hair algae, from what i can see in the picture. There is a good possibility that your snails are keeping this under control. The tufts on the substrate can easily be syphoned out>>
I have a 65 gallon tank. 3 1/2 month old, 75 lbs. live rock, 3 circulating powerheads w/ a total 1000 gph circulation. (3) 96 watt lights equaling 50% blue and 50% daylight. Night light is a submergible LED blue strip lights.
<<For a reef tank, you may want to up your flow a little, get yourself into the region of 1600gph>>
Water parameters are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, calcium, 480-500, nitrates are questionable, I get about 20-30, LFS test 0, PH 8.2, salinity 1022-1023. I use Oceans Blend for Calcium, PH, Alkalinity. Had phosphate tested today and they said very minimal.
<<Usually with plague algae, they have already absorbed the phosphates from the water, so, a test showing up minimal is common. Have you tested the water before it goes in the tank? If not, give it a test, see what it shows>>
I have several small frag corals, mostly soft coral, but some candy cane coral, one Bubble tip anemone and a fair size frog spawn. I also bought a coral today that the LFS told me was a Cotton Candy Coral.
<<I would concur on the carnation coral. They are not the easiest to keep, however, with research and understand, you should be fine>>
It has extended out at least two inches since I put it in. Now that I am looking online, it looks like a carnation coral! They say that they are difficult to keep. Mine seems very happy in the few hours I have had him but now I am afraid that I won't be able to keep him alive! Included is a pic of it as well. Can you identify this coral?
<<As above>>
Fish include:
1 Dwarf Coral Beauty
1 Six Line Wrasse
1 Lawnmower Blenny
3 Blue Green Chromis
1 Midas Benny
2 Mated Percula Clowns
Inverts:
1 skunk cleaner shrimp
20 Nassarius snails
2 large Mexican Turbo Snails
4 very large stocky Cerith Snails? The ones that burrow under the sand I pulled some of the algae out and put in a bowl for you to take a look at. Please tell me what this is. I have been told may be hair algae, another told me red slime. Another place said they don't know what it is, they have never seen it. Will you please take a look at the pics attached and tell me what YOU think. Also, what kind of coral in the other pic.
Thank you for all you do for us! Rachel
<<Thank you for the questions, hope this helps. A Nixon>>

Diatom Bloom...  BGA 3/20/08
Hi Crew,
<Hello there.>
I seek your advice once again. Recently I've experienced what appears to be a diatom/Cyano bloom.
<It is what it appears to be.>
I have a 90 FOWLR. The recent change I've made was switching from 110W PC's to the Nova Extreme Pro T5 HO (324W). I'd like to start introducing polyps, xenia, etc to start into the reefkeeping life.
<Great!>
I started seeing this bloom around the time of this lighting switch, but I'm not sure this is the root cause based on the readings, which indicate I should be looking for issues with water parameters and nutrient export.
<Exactly, while the lighting has spurred the growth, there are underlying causes that need to be addressed.>
I've tested Phosphate (0), Silicate (0), Nitrate (.25), and pH (8.2-8.3 with lights on). I'm using Salifert test kits, so I believe these are reliable numbers.
<Yes, these test kits are good. Do be aware these numbers can be deceiving, nitrate and phosphate can be used up as they are produced, allowing BGA growth and yet still yielding low numbers when you test. The proof is in how the tank looks.>
I employ an AquaC Urchin skimmer, a 3gal refugium w/ a DSB and Chaetomorpha (which is growing and being trimmed), and 30% water changes every other week. I've attached a few pics of the sand as well as the growth on the rocks. With a diatom/Cyano, I was expecting to see this develop in more stagnant areas, but the pics are where my powerheads are hitting the rocks pretty much head on and is where the growth is thriving.
<They idea behind not allowing stagnate areas is to keep detritus in suspension to be exported via your filtration (mechanical/skimmer) or processed by live rock and its inhabitants. The nutrients that cause the outbreak will be spread throughout the tank, causing growth all over. It merely originates from the stagnant areas more than others.>
I'm a bit confused on this and I'm wondering if this is really a Cyano/diatom issue or something else.
<Nothing else, BGA it is.>
You're help would be greatly appreciated, especially if I need to be testing or looking for something else. Thanks again
<Welcome, a link with related FAQ’s to help you learn how to control this outbreak. Good luck, Scott V.>
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/bluegralgae.htm

Red/brown type algae identification... Hydroids likely 3/19/08
Bob Fenner, thank you for your quick response. Attached are photo's of my mysterious algae as per your request. Again description: It is very fine, reddish/brown in color. Grows like a bad weed. Moves like a wavy hands coral. Has a flower type (Daisy) top on it.
<I see this... am glad you sent along such large file sizes... Cropped... maybe Myrionema or such...>
Every 3 - 4 days the flower dies down, and what's left looks like red hair type algae, but will rebloom again. If moved by hand it breaks apart easily. Will attach to any coral that is damaged (hard coral) but doesn't seem to kill it yet. Your help of what it is, and what might help get rid of it? Again your help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you. MC
<I do believe this is likely a Hydrozoan, not an algae... Need even "closer-up" pix to determine. Read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/hyzoanidfaq.htm
and the linked files above... part. re Comp.
Bob Fenner>

It's the algae man! RMF

Re: Green Algae ID/Help
Thanks for your help Sara. Do you have a suggestion for a good salt mix alternative (i.e., which brand would you buy if you were in my shoes)?
<Oh, tough question... I use Reef Crystals because it seems like one of the better overall salts for reef tanks and it's available just about everywhere and usually isn't too terribly expensive. But do take a look at the chemical analysis data I linked you to. If nothing else, it is pretty interesting. >
Andy
<Best,
Sara M.>

Green Algae ID/Help -02/24/08
Sara,
First, thanks again. You always offer great information and are a lot of help.
<Thanks, we try :) >
I have read that salt summary before--very interesting/informative.
I was thinking that maybe the ESV activated carbon that I am running in my sump could be leaching PO4?
<It's possible.>
I read an article by Steven Pro that tested a bunch of carbon brands, and ESV was one of the worst. Interestingly, I did swap out my carbon this week, but I don't think this is it as I've been using this brand for a while. Plus, since my PO4 is only 0.03 ppm (which really isn't all that bad) and since my display water matches exactly my pre-mixed salt water, my guess is that the problem is a bad batch of salt (I've always used Instant Ocean).
<Looking at the data in that report, this certainly seems possible too.>
I'm kind of surprised that a PO4 level of 0.03 ppm could spark this sort of problem--I guess I'm assuming correct testing instructions, which say what is and isn't a good PO4 level. Of course, who knows what isn't being detected because it's being immediately absorbed by my Chaeto!
<Ah yes, as I mentioned earlier, testing for nutrients can be misleading when you have an algae breakout (or are using macro for nutrient export). The nutrients get used up by the algae before they're detected.>
I just ordered some Reef Crystals (was almost out of salt anyway), PhosBan and some Marineland Black Diamond carbon (I've read that it's a pretty good brand). I don't have a Phos reactor but was thinking of running a bag in my sump and floating a bag in my pre-mix vat (wouldn't you know that I mixed my saltwater yesterday??!! Hate to throw out 30g of saltwater).
<This sounds like a good plan. Sorry you have to waste the water, but better safe than sorry.>
Andy
<Good luck,
Sara M,>

Green Algae ID/Help -02/25/08
Dear Sara/Bob,
I see from RMF's commentary to my post on WWM that he thinks this is a Cyano bloom. Do I interpret his comment correctly?
Andy
<Is at least partly this highly likely. B>

Re: Green Algae ID/Help   2/27/08
Dear Sara/Bob,
I see from RMF's commentary to my post on WWM that he thinks this is a Cyano bloom. Do I interpret his comment correctly?
<<Indeed, the green stuff on the white gravel looked like Cyano. But it looks like you have other nuisance algae also (the turf-like one on the rocks for instance). But honestly, it doesn't really matter. Nuisance algae is nuisance algae and they're all more or less caused/cured by the same problems/solutions. -Sara M.>>
Andy
<Is at least partly this highly likely. B>

May just look green. RMF.