Is this Botryocladia?

[Mighty Quinn]

Greetings Everyone,

I have this red bubble algae that grows in large clusters. It is relatively slow growing and doesn't seem to spread very easily. Is this a variety of Botryocladia?

Thanks,
Q

 

[Mighty Quinn]

Sorry, the picture didn't get attached to the last message. Let's try this again...

 

[bluenassarius]

can you do a close up shot of that? that looks pretty neat

 

[Mighty Quinn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6990912#post6990912 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bluenassarius
can you do a close up shot of that? that looks pretty neat

Here's a couple more pictures of a different cluster. I have 5 clusters that are 1.5 - 4 inches in diameter.

Does this help? It doesn't look like the pictures of Botryocladia that I have seen in this forum.

Thanks!

Q

 

[The_Nexis_One]

I think it is botryocladia.

See my info here: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=803444

This macro seems to have a tremendous morphing tendancy... or at least it has many variants out there. from the pictures, I'd say yes and that it's yet another variant in growth pattern.

John.

 

[Mighty Quinn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6992572#post6992572 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The_Nexis_One
I think it is botryocladia.

See my info here: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=803444

This macro seems to have a tremendous morphing tendancy... or at least it has many variants out there. from the pictures, I'd say yes and that it's yet another variant in growth pattern.

John.

Thanks John. Great pictures in the link that you provided. As a side note, one of the pictures clearly showed several multi-legged, white creatures. What are those?

I love this macro, as does my wife. It grows in almost perfect hemispherical shapes. It is very slow growing, so not too much use as a nutrient export mechanism; however, based on your experience, I may try iron dosing boost the growth rate.

Thanks for the info.

Q

 

[The_Nexis_One]

Ahh.. Those are 'pods (Amphipods, Isopods, Copepods, etc.) They are very benefitial and thrive in refugiums where there is algae, detritus and little/no predation. I've been converting my refugium over to a Lagoon over the last few months and the only thing in there right now is some Macros/Mangroves, a few Rocks, a 23" SFE, and plenty of light (over macro's)... these things seem to feed in micro algae to some extent, mainly film/slim algae IME. But they sure are plentiful. You can't walk up to the tank and stare at a single spot without seeing a couple dozen of these things moving around on the sand, LR, and other critters (not the eel ) I originally setup this 'fug years ago because I had a nitrate problem from using CC. Additionally, I had a Mandarin in my 125g and I wanted to make sure he had a steady supply of these filtering into the the display. I've never had so many of these things as I do right now - not sure exactly what was different though...


Re: Iron dosing.
Just do your research on the Iron dosing - it's not quite as easy as just giving the tank a shot - there are a couple really good threads here in the Macro/Seagrass forum about it in addition to Randy Holmes-Farely's articles on the subject... I think both of the threads I'm thinking of (there are more I'm sure) were started by my inexperianced questions (Iron dosing and Nitrate dosing)....



Best of luck,
John.

 

[Som1else]

OMG! Start sucking that stuff out. i started with just a few bubbles on one rock now its showing up everywhere. I have been manually extracting this red bubble algae for months and it is near impossible to completly erradicate. You have to siphon them out w/o letting the bubbles burst in the tank or it will spread even worse. Anyone know if yellow tangs will eat this stuff?

 

[The_Nexis_One]

Buy a green scat.... it'll be completely gone from the tank in a matter of a week or two.... whether you want it to be or not :-(

John.

 

[BethanyM]

Turbo snails have always eaten mine. It only grows in the sump now.