Algae suddenly appeared in my tank, what is it and what do I do?

[Doctor Quillo]

So during my cycling I was among one of the few people that never really get to see the "Algae" stage during that whole process, I had zero algae besides one orangish spot on a rock I took out due to my assumed amphipod problem and a bit of coraline specks on some of the rocks, I know my tank did cycle and that everything went well because everytime I took my water to get tested which was once about every month they said my water was literally perfect, and that's the exact wording they used. I have some soft corals, two clownfish that are doing well I introduced yesterday, an Emerald Crab, a Conch, and a Flametail Blenny, my Zoa's haven't been doing too well for some reason, I assume maybe its because my Emerald crab may have had little to eat during those times without much algae but I started feeding him pellets to keep him away recently, at first I thought it was the Gammarus amphipods I saw crawling all over them at night but I found out those don't typically eat coral so. Anyways I was gone for like three hours and it literally blew up, suddenly it appeared, coincidentally that day I had my LFS scrape off some coraline from their tank and bought some purple up to put in my tank, or maybe it was there in the morning and I didn't notice but I swear it was fast, some of it is Lime greenish and growing on the rocks without any little hair like appendages, some of it is brownish and its splattered on the front of my tank however they do have hair like appendages, I was assuming that this is hair algae even though you can't really see it in the picture? What should I do about it if it is hair algae, and there is not that much, I also have some red algae I think? I'd assume that is coraline I also recently bought a rock with coraline on it and I am adding the purple up daily so I can try to get calcium in my tank, so would the coraline outcompete the nuisance algae in time for it to not spread all too bad or would I need to take precaution?

 

[mcgyvr]

Welcome to a totally normal new tank algae stage...such a minor/harmless/normal thing you have there..

 

[MuShu]

Normal and it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

Your zoas may not be doing well because your tank may be too clean. Knowing your exact parameters and type of lighting would be helpful.

The conch may not make it- they need more established tanks.

Are you still taking water to the LFS for testing? If so, go ahead and get yourself some test kits and start doing your own testing. Not all LFS are going to be honest. Or they will tell you that things are perfect, but in reality, one of your numbers isn't where it needs to be. Testing your own water also lets you see trends over time.

 

[Doctor Quillo]

Normal and it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

Your zoas may not be doing well because your tank may be too clean. Knowing your exact parameters and type of lighting would be helpful.

The conch may not make it- they need more established tanks.

Are you still taking water to the LFS for testing? If so, go ahead and get yourself some test kits and start doing your own testing. Not all LFS are going to be honest. Or they will tell you that things are perfect, but in reality, one of your numbers isn't where it needs to be. Testing your own water also lets you see trends over time.

Yes I do, next time will probably be near the end of this month or mid next month since I'm quite aways away, I never knew Zoas could die from the tank being too clean, that sheds a whole lot of light on things, The Conch seems to be doing well, though he is moving a whole lot more than he used to so he could be looking for food, for a long time he just stayed buried in the sand, around a day or two straight. I have been thinking of getting a test kit for awhile and next time I go seems like the perfect time to get one. Thanks

 

[Doctor Quillo]

Just as another curiousity, there are only three polyps that actually open left on my Zoa and they seem pretty healthy despite most of the other closed/dead ones being pretty decimated, do you think its a possibilty that my zoa could make it or is it as good as dead? I did get myself another coral that was on an amazingly healthy coral skeleton in a very well coraline coated tank just incase, I forgot what he said they were already but he said they are basically a bigger zoa but they aren't zoanthids he either said they were polyps or mushrooms and I forgot which, they are white and have a similar structure without the skirts and have much longer stalks but similar heads though not as big, I'll call in tommorow and ask what they are again since I know a guy that works there that'd be nice enough to check, but he told me their requirements and they are doing very well compared to the zoas.

 

[MuShu]

If you can post a picture, we can probably identify it pretty quickly.