Mysterious Fungi From the Blue Lagoon, Rhodophyte? ID  11/15/08
Hey Guys!
<Josh>
Its been a while since I've written in, you know why? Because thanks to you, I have had a well balanced tank which hasn't had any problems to speak of!!! :D
My name is Josh and I have a 20gal slow growing reef tank, which according to your advice I have moved out old incompatible livestock and am slowly building into a thriving community. Slowly, because I am college student spending my financial aid wisely lol.
<Man! As a college student, I could barely afford Top Ramen!>
Anyway, I got some live rock about 8 months ago and over the past month or so I have started having a creature grow that I'm not really sure what it is. It is a slightly translucent red color which kind of resembles a mushroom group normally found on trees, with many layers up and down the side of a rock. Its ends kind of resemble a bad drawing of a glove with little round short fingers. It is non-calcareous, and completely photosynthetic and doesn't react to touch. Over the past month it has grown from a tiny red spot to about a 2 inch long, one inch wide patch, since I am doing a better job at supplementing the small corals currently present.
It is reaching hard for the light but it shares a rock with a red mushroom which I don't think I should move any closer then where it is, the bottom.
It doesn't seem to be hurting anything but I am dying to know what it is.
Hopefully the description is enough, because my camera is broken, but if you need a pic, I will track one down.
Thanks for all the support!
Josh
<A pic would help... this is most likely a Red Algae (see here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/redalgae.htm, and the linked files above), or a sponge. Do please send pix along. Bob Fenner>

Algae ID Please 11/13/08
Hi guys,
<Hello.>
Please help us identify our algae growth. We have looked at tons of pictures tonight but can't seem to find any that are the same. The first one is growing among plants on live rock we think this is green hair, the second we think is the same growing on a plastic anemone. The third algae is a brown/rust color film growing on the substrate (this was given to us and I believe it is live sand). There is also a film growing on the glass this is visible in the second picture. The tank was recently moved to a room with less sunlight about 3 weeks ago will this help or harm the algae growth?
<It can help your battle against it.>
Do we have good or bad algae on our hands?
<Sounds like BGA, diatoms and/or hair algae. The procedure to rid the stuff is all the same anyhow. The attached files are actually shortcut attachments, not the pics themselves.>
Our tanks specs are as follows: 30 gallon saltwater set up for about 9 months filter: AquaClear Power Filter 30 gallon
Sea Clone 100 Protein Skimmer,  lighting: Aqua Ace Bioplant 20W, Livestock: 2 green spotted puffer (approx 2"), 1 clown fish (approx 2"), 1 damsel (approx 2"), a lot of bristleworms (we now know what they are thanks to your site)
We also had a piece of live coral but it has died and the algae is growing on it now too. (This won't come back will it?)
<Not if completely gone.>
Any help or suggestions on our algae problem is greatly appreciated.
<Follow this link: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/algaeconMar.htm.>
Thanks in advance.
Colleen and Allen
<Welcome, Scott V.>

Please Help Me ID This: Rhodophyte  11/11/08 <Hi there, Kimberly> I have been trying to ID this red growth in my tank for over 2 weeks now...Do you have any idea what it is??? <It's a Rhodophyte/Red Algae of some sort, but I haven't been able to narrow it down. I'm still looking though! I see that you've posted a question regarding this over at the forums (at this link: http://bb.wetwebmedia.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1265 ). I'll be glad to do more research and see if we can't get this mystery solved for you!> It kinda looks and feels like a mushroom, some think it's an algae. <Yep, that's what it looks like to me too.> I'm trying to find out if it's good or bad....It looks pretty neat. <I agree. I'd enjoy it, but keep an eye on it. If you start noticing any great leaps in growth, or see it spreading to other areas of the tank, then I'd opt for pruning/manual removal.> In the picture the bunch of whatever it is, is about an inch wide and half an inch long, and it seems to be a colony of some sort. Any information is appreciated! <Sure hope we can ID this for you!> The tank has been set up for a little over two years, I have great success with mushrooms (most open to about 4-5 inches across), <Wow, I bet that's pretty.> I'm really not having any problems with the tank and all my corals seem to be very healthy. <Excellent - a testimony to your good care.> My coral collection consists of a green brain, a finger leather, several different types of polyps (orange, brown, Cinnamon, and bulls eye), Mushrooms (green striped, purple, a very light pink, green anemone mushroom, & several Ricordia), torch coral, purple sea whip. My fish include a Maroon Clown, 4 Damsels, Lawnmower Blenny, Green Clown Goby, & Bi-colored Blenny. I have an AquaC protein skimmer, 3 power heads for circulation. I'm running power compact lights. Thank you for your help! Kimberly <My pleasure! Take care, Lynn>

Live Rock Growth: Neomeris annulata - 11/8/08 Hello, <Hi Beth> I hope you can help me with the identification of some "things" that have grown out of my live rock recently. This is in a 35g tank that has been setup for 8 months now. I have spent a lot of this time watching what comes and goes on the live rock, and have been able to identify most things, but have had no luck with these. They are segmented tubes that are white, shading to a bright green on the upper half. There are fine hair-like feathers on the outside of the tube, growing from the last four to six segments completely around the tube. The tip of the tube is completely closed. I mention this because when these first appeared, I thought that they might be feather dusters as the tube is somewhat similar. These are also stationary, and do not retract or react in any way like a feather duster would. The first of these appeared about two months ago, with the others following within two weeks or so. Within that time, the largest has grown to be approximately 2.5" long with a diameter of a 1/4". I have attached some pictures that I hope will help in identifying these. Any advice that you may have regarding whether or not to leave them alone or remove them would also be greatly appreciated. <What you have is a beautiful little calcareous green algae called Neomeris annulata. Thankfully, it's not a species that tends to get out of hand but if necessary (or you find it unsightly), control can be achieved through manual removal. Please see WWM for more information regarding, starting here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/greenalg.htm, and/or enter "Neomeris annulata" in our Google search engine: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/question_page.htm > Thanking you in advance, Beth <You're very welcome. Take care, Lynn>

<<cool pics -Sara M.>>

Brown algae?   10/19/08
Hi guys,
How are you going?
<Great here.>
I'm trying to work out whether or not this ghastly sight I have in my tank is brown algae. If it is, please let me know what else I can do.
The "dirtiness" first appeared yesterday when there was just a slight brown tinge to the calcium carbonate substrate. Today, it has taken over most of the surface of the substrate and is now taking over the upper layer of live rock.
<Sounds like BGA/diatoms rather than an actual algae.>
After doing a little research on the internet, I found out that this algae is fed by light and silicates. Not knowing much about silicates, I have eliminated the light source. Light was on for 12 hours each day.
<This treat the symptom rather than the cause.>
So far, I'm up to day 6 of cycling my tank.
<Ahh, the cause!>
The water parameters are as follows:-
pH - 8.2
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 1
Nitrate - 10
Phosphate - 0
Calcium - 380
dKH - 11
SG - 1.022
<Should raise this to 1.025-1.026.>
Temp - 26.3 deg C
The tank is 200 litres with an 80 litre sump below. When I first started, I used a bacteria booster and some flake food to help get the cycle going.
<Neither helps IMO.>
I have a tiny snail in that tank which hitched a ride on the live rock.
<Neat.>
If you could advise on what I should do, that would be much appreciated.
<First, do realize the difference between cycling and curing live rock; the terms are used interchangeably and are actually different. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_2/cav2i3/Live_Rock/live_rock.htm After sorting through this article you will likely agree that some water changes are in order. After that a period of patience/waiting.>
I would have taken some photos except the camera that I have doesn't
make very clear pictures when I try to take photos of the tank.
<No problem, sounds like a common issue.>
Thanks for all the help and advice.
I look forward to your reply,
Nick
<A bit of time a normal growing pains, Scott V.>

Unidentified Algae... reading  10/16/08
I have had a recent crop up of several unidentified algae in my 30 gallon reef. I would appreciate some identification assistance, and some courses of action.
<Okay...>
Unfortunately, I had difficulty taking clear photos of the suspects, but hopefully you can make them out.
http://jasoncoyne.smugmug.com/gallery/6250625_W3U67#394849343_CYBz5
<I see them>
The first algae is a long green worm looking thing, as they get longer, the bottom turns white. There are 5-6 of these scattered throughout the tank. I think this is probably
http://www.saltcorner.com/sections/guest/algaepage/Green/calcareousalgae/Nannulata.htm
<Mmm, maybe... the second pic on the right is very likely a Neomeris sp.>
The second is a dark green growth, with small fingers or branches all over it. There are several patches of this growing in different parts of the tank. This is the one I am most concerned with identifying. Unfortunately its also the ones with the worst photos.. Its possible that this is
http://www.saltcorner.com/sections/guest/algaepage/Green/calcareousalgae/Cedule.htm
<Mmm, some part of the first, fourth and fifth photo appears to be a Codium sp.>
or
http://www.saltcorner.com/sections/guest/algaepage/Green/calcareousalgae/Cvermilara.htmbuti
seem to have many more (very short) fingers with a darker color.
Another algae is growing from inside of one of the patches of the previous item, and looks like blades of grass
<I see this, don't know what this is>
The final is I believe a standard bubble algae, that I will try and vacuum out during my next water change.
<Is a Valoniacean...>
You can also see several aiptasia, which have been a long term issue for me.
I can't manage to eradicate them. I kill em down with Joe's juice when they get unruly, but a few months later they come back and I do it again.
For the algae, are any of these particularly worrisome?
<... see WWM re these genera... the search tool, indices>
Will they damage other items? Do I need to try and scrape/vacuum them? Are any beneficial?
Thanks for your time and Assistance,
Jason
<Thank you for helping yourself. Bob Fenner>