Brown Wafer algae

[rroselavy]

Serval-

Does your algae have a slippery rubbery feel to it?

My lobophora did not return. I have the same rocks in my QT right now.

I do have a infestation in my QT of another brown encrusting algae that came on a few frag plugs. I replaced the plugs too late (mistake). It is slower growing than the lobo, and is darker brown (my lobo was medium caramel-brown) is not rubbery and does not scroll.

 

[serval]

Yes, the brown algae in my tank is rubbery feeling and slippery. Why are your original rocks in your QT? Did you replace some in your DT?

 

[adtravels]

Dont use purple up, its snake oil, the coralline is usually still there under the algae. To truly rid yourself of it make take drastic steps.

 

[serval]

I just checked on the Sally lightfoot and it is picking and eating away; it's an eating machine relative to the emerald crab! The Emerald is a thoughtful, slower eater. This thing just chows down. I am excited about this now.

Interesting thing: Sally Lightfoot is a common name usually applied to Grapsus grapsus, from Baja and down to the Galapagos. That's not what this is. Fish stores sell this crab as a Sally Lightfoot and it's in the genus Percnon, often displayed as Percnon gibbesi, which is native to the Caribbean. (Note: the one I bought was labeled as Grapsus grapsus, but it isn't that for sure; I will take a picture sometime). I think the one I got is from the western Pacific and may be Percnon planissimum, http://www.poppe-images.com/images/search_results.php?family=GRAPSIDAE because it has the blue dots on the carapace. I just viewed it with the Nightsea light and glasses and only the tips of the claws and feet fluoresce (yellow). Neat.

 

[rroselavy]

Yes, the brown algae in my tank is rubbery feeling and slippery. Why are your original rocks in your QT? Did you replace some in your DT?

The rocks now in my QT were from my original nano FOWLR tank, which has long been dismantled.

 

[serval]

Re: Purple up: I wondered about that (the snake oil possibility). So many people "swear by it" that I thought it couldn't hurt. But then, people like lots of things...
To be honest, I was never that happy with my live rock from the start (Tank is 5 mo's old). I got most of it from one store which has done well by me for the most part, but I think they got this rather base-looking rock from someone tearing down their tank and resold it to me. It was apparently devoid of life in the beginning. Then came the Lobophora. I did have 2 additional rocks from another store which did have coralline and other interesting things (protists, sponges, fan worms, snails, etc.) on it. I wanted life on the rocks and was prepared to wait out the "usual algae progression" which never happened. I got one alga, Lobophora; lucky me.

Next time, I am going to get fresh rock and cure it myself, not rock someone else had, maybe cooked, maybe had problems with, etc.

 

[stargazer=2]

get a naso tang if you have room.

 

[pammy]

My rock wasn't from anyones tank, and I still got Lobophora. It didn't come in on a frag or anything. It started on one of my larger rocks, about 5 months after I set up my tank. I hated that algae. It started with one tiny spot about the size of a pencil eraser. If I had known how much it would spread, I would have tried to nip the problem in the bud !! I would spend time trying to remove the Lobo with a wire brush, but as others said in here, it grew back extrememly quickly. That Sally must have really picked clean every speck of it for it not to come back again. I had this one small feather duster that just popped up one day, before I got the Sally. It wasn't the tiny ones you get tons of in your tank, but about the size of a nickel. The Sally ate that. Never saw him eat a fish, but he would take swipes. I don't know if it was more of a defensive move or not, but as soon as he completed his mission and decimated the lobo, I found him a new home. Gave him free to someone that wanted him. He just made me too nervous. Really cool but kind of creepy looking crab. Looks like a big spider in your tank ! That's awesome Serval that your new Sally is going to town !! I have a 53 gallon tank, so a Naso Tang was out of the question for me.
Pam

 

[serval]

My tank is also a 55 gallon and though a Naso tang (small one, to be captured later) is appealing, I didn't want to get a fish that would outgrow the tank. I agree that the look and movements of the Sally are spider-like, which frankly don't appeal to me either. Spiders are the one set of creatures I would prefer to not be in my general vicinity, but one does what is needed for the reef!

 

[rigleautomotive]

here is my experience with the SLF and lobo,
I put 2 crabs in my 180 with very little to no success.I talked to Eric Borneman,and he believes it is a algae that is seasonal in the wild and that it may burn itself out in our tanks eventually.He recommended urchins and did not like the SLF for this problem.My sallys have either went into the overflows or died.i havent seen them in a couple months.The algae has gotten better and falls of in large sheets leaving pristine rock behind and with no regrowth.If i try to remove it before it falls of the rock on its own it usually grows back.My tank has been doing great even with this algae and the only bad effect it has on my corals is it sometimes will shade the base of an acro temporarily causing some tissue loss.If it gets worse or does not improve i may try one of the urchins that eric recommended

 

[serval]

Did Eric B. recommend the Tuxedo urchin (Mespilia globulus)? Or the Diadema urchin (Diadema setosum)? Or some other? I was hesitant about these too. Both will eat coralline as well as other algae. The Mespilia (accidentally?) collects "decorations" for its spines and that could well mean one's precious small Acro fragments (and I have several). The Diadema has somewhat poisonous spines and is tricky to work with, though I suppose you could use tongs or heavy gloves. That is interesting though; I have the greatest respect for Borneman; his Corals book is one of my favorites.

How long did it take for your Lobophora to drop off? Mine hasn't even started to make plates or scrolls or whatever it's called so it's still very young. I suspect its life cycle is a long one. With one reef tank and as small as it is (55 gal), I wasn't willing to wait years for this brown ugliness to go away on its own. Also, it is currently growing on top of the small amount of coralline I do have. I know what you are thinking; patience with reef tanks is a virtue...

 

[rigleautomotive]

Did Eric B. recommend the Tuxedo urchin (Mespilia globulus)? Or the Diadema urchin (Diadema setosum)? Or some other? I was hesitant about these too. Both will eat coralline as well as other algae. The Mespilia (accidentally?) collects "decorations" for its spines and that could well mean one's precious small Acro fragments (and I have several). The Diadema has somewhat poisonous spines and is tricky to work with, though I suppose you could use tongs or heavy gloves. That is interesting though; I have the greatest respect for Borneman; his Corals book is one of my favorites.



How long did it take for your Lobophora to drop off? Mine hasn't even started to make plates or scrolls or whatever it's called so it's still very young. I suspect its life cycle is a long one. With one reef tank and as small as it is (55 gal), I wasn't willing to wait years for this brown ugliness to go away on its own. Also, it is currently growing on top of the small amount of coralline I do have. I know what you are thinking; patience with reef tanks is a virtue...

I believe it was the diadema

I am searching for the email right now from eric,hopefully i can answer your questions with accuracy if i find the email.

i have had this algae for about 6 months before it started to darken and flake off the rock.i believe it reaches maturity and then looses its attachment or just removes whatever nutrient it survives on from the given rock and then detaches.FYI my system is low nitrate and phosphate.less the 5 ppm nitrate and usually around .03 phos,eric said it is perfectly happy in low nutrients so starving it out is probably not practical

 

[pichy]

In my previous tank, about 5 years ago I had quite a battle with Lobophora. Tried a lot of stuff but none really solved the problem.

But after I put Naso tang in there, it took not more than a few weeks to clean them all (100gal). After that I returned the fish to LFS as it grows pretty big and I don't like having fish in to small tanks...

Lobophora never returned!

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Robka]

Is the Naso Tang the only tang that will eat the Brown wfer algae?

Thanks

 

[serval]

I don't know for sure, but it is the main one I have seen where people "that know" say it eats true brown algae (just fyi: brown algae = Phaeophyta and includes the kelp off the CA coast and Lobophora among others. Green algae= our SW hair algae and thousands of other species. Red algae = a group of its own and most of us recognize the aquarium spp of that one. Golden algae = diatoms and others. Cyano is not a "higher alga" at all, but a type of bacteria that gets energy via photosynthesis).

 

[Argentiner]

Has anyone ever tried the MB7 to get rid of the brown wafer algae? I dose vodka and just started this MB7 to try and really drive the phosphates down to starve it out. I have no reading on nitrate and 0.01 for phosphates. I have a 2" mandarin that I would be worried about with a sally lightfoot. I also have too many fish to add a naso tang. My tank is a 175gal.

 

[serval]

Unfortunately, my Lobophora just laughed at Microbacter7 and vodka. It loved those low nutrient conditions. Still does. The sally lightfoot is still making some progress and I lowered PO4 using GFO which helped; I started GFO (just in a media bag in a filter sock) one month ago. Unfortunately, I am now noticing much lighter coral corals and a dropping pH, possibly due to such low phosphate levels? What do you think?

 

[Stumped]

I havent read the thread, so forgive me if this is mentioned 100 times already, but are emerald crabs not touching the stuff? I had this same algae problem, added two emeralds and they totally eradicated it. You could actually watch them snap it off and eat it.

 

[serval]

I have a 55 gallon and added one emerald at first. It really didn't make a dent that I could tell. After a couple of months I added the Sally Lightfoot (with great trepidation) and that crab has actually made progress. I think, in the right tank certain sea urchins would help, but I didn't want to try that (too big, too clumsy, knock down corals, etc.). The final animal that supposedly helps (most votes for this one) is a blonde Naso tang, but clearly that one is too big for my tank and for many tanks.

 

[Dakota Reef]

I battled Lobo for the last year and a half with the problem peaking about 8 months ago. I've had a Blonde Naso since before the outbreak and have added emerald crabs a couple of times and also a sally lightfoot crab (which immediately disappeared). None of the above solved the problem.

I did notice that in my tank at least, the wafer algae thrived in lower light areas of my tank. About six months ago I basically doubled the light in the tank. I don't know whether it was coincidental but the wafer algae has retreated to the point that I barely notice it.