Dragon's Breath algae

[melev]

Sarah et al:

I saw this macro algae while visiting some tanks in Houston. Ever seen it before, and if so can you tell me what it is called? I'll add it to my ID page soon.

 

[Echidna09]

Don't remember where I saw it, but I did find it online once.

 

[melev]

Glad I brought a bit of it home with me.

 

[KUDA]

It's some sort of Halymenia. It grows pretty fast. Mine is a dark deep red color.

 

[graveyardworm]

Here's a couple pics from Saltcorner. Probably doesnt help. Yours could be either one, or these two could even be the same. Lighting seems to play a huge role in the appearance of this macro.

Halymenia duchassaignii

Halymenia sp.

 

[dfwcontract]

It's Dragon's breath. VERY good and healthy for any tank, regardless of fish or coral.
hxxp://fishsabby.com/dragon-breath-algae-halymenia/. It's a beneficial algae that feeds on nitrates and phosphates, so they act as a great filter. And, if you have two tanks (like me), one is FOWLR and one is a reef tank, you can take the quickly growing Dragon's Breath, chaetomorpha, or Caulerpa and feed it to your fish in the FOWLR tank. It's like candy to them. They love it!

 

[McPuff]

All of a sudden, I've got this in my tank. I guess the tang has taken a couple weeks off and it's starting to grow. I'm not sure it'll last but it looks cool and is much easier to control than caulerpa. And if you want to buy it from a store or online, it's expensive.

 

[JPF]

Do you anchor it somehow or does it drift around?

 

[Nhunt]

I just bought a rock with about 3 soft ball size pieces already attached to it. I'd rubber band it to the rock you want it on.