need HELP with BLACK algae......

[Naperville Reef]

a few months ago i noticed a patch of fuzzy black algae. i scrubbed it off but it slowly came back. then i stated to notice it in other random spots. it seems to spread pretty quickly.


tank is a 20L
refugium w/ cheato
skimmer is an ASM miniG
phoenix 14k 150w DE, 9 months old.
flow = Mag5 return plus a minijet404 (108gph) and an aquaclear 30 (175 gph)
water is 0 TDS
salt is Tropic Marin

inhabitants....
Clarki clown w/ RBTA
6 line wrasse
various SPS and Zoas

paramaters....
NH4 = 0
NO2 = 0
NO3 = .2
PO4 = 0
Ca = 380
Alk = 9dKH
Mg = 1200
pH = 8.1
salinity = 1.025
temp = 80 - 81


occasionaly i get small patches of cyano but i can get rid of it within a few weeks by increasing flow and adding phosban. that method does not seem to effect this algae.

i am going to try a black out period to see if it will kill the algae. any other suggestions???????

thanks
rob

 

[Naperville Reef]

bump

 

[NewSchool04]

I'm pretty sure I know what you're taking about but don't have a name for it. Have you gotten any bali aquacultured frags lately? I've heard it's coming in on those plugs. Looks like velvet with tiny hairs covering it?
Bad news is it's nearly impossible to get rid of. I've heard Sohol or Naso tangs might eat it, I have a powder blue and yellow and they won't touch it.

 

[Naperville Reef]

i tried a 72 hour blackout and it did not help much. does anyone know what this stuff is and how to get rid of it????? it is slowly destroying my tank:sad2:

 

[jjjimmy]

I do not know what the black stuff is but if your Phownix bulb is truly 9 months old, I would raplace it asap. Alot of people are finding out that their useful life is 6 months top. When I has those in, at the 6 month mark my corals really started to decline in color and growth.

It may be or not that it is related to your problem.

Jimmy

 

[Illuminati]

I have a friend who had a BAD outbreak of that. Luckily she had it when it was still a FOWLER setup. Her's was more of a "slime black algae".

Here's her advice:
According to a couple people that I have talked to, you can never get rid of it. Every time you do the water changes you need to loosen it and then suck it out. I can see a couple spots now in my tank where its coming back. If it’s the same kind as mine its SUPER easy to suck up with the tube, mine just peels right off the rock and gravel. And I still have not found anything that actually eats it.


I'd consider getting a QT up and going in case you need to move your corals over.
Maybe someone close by has a little tank they aren't using and you could borrow.

Good Luck

 

[PSam]

The only time I've ever seen it is in a 10 gallon I used for extra LR storage. Once I traded off the rock, I pulled the plugs and got lazy. Two months later, cold water, no lights, etc, I get this black slimey stuff.... like cyano, but BLACK.

So what's the verdict, what is that stuff? Same thing?

 

[BreadmanMike]

That stuff is coming out of Bali....

It was covering a good part of my live rock as well. When I lost most of my stuff a few weeks back I decided to cook my rock to kill it off. I scrubbed all of it off that I could and it hasn't come back yet. I'm hoping it will remain gone after I get things set back up again.

 

[Naperville Reef]

thanks all for the responses.

this algae is similar to what Newschool4 describes. it is not a "slime algae". the only way to remove it is to scrub it with a toothbrush, but even then the rock still looks dirty and the algae quickly comes back.

60% of my rock is covered and it seems to have no ill effects to my corals. i think i will let it run it's course (i guess i don't have much of a choice) and see what happens.

if anyone hears of others succesfully removing this stuff please let me know.

thanks for the help and advice

 

[NewSchool04]

Naperville, Is this the same stuff. I posted this pic in menards top down pic thread but you can really see it.
It doesn't effect anything and I've seen it come and then go and then come back. Weird stuff.

Tell me what you think, some by the orange zoas.

 

[Naperville Reef]

can't tell for sure but i think that is it.

 

[NewSchool04]

good thing is it doesn't seem to hurt anything. if you find anything that will get rid of it, post it here please.

 

[menard]

I got a few of Bali aquacultured and it has those algae on the rocks. My Powder blue Tang wipe'em out, no more.
Your tank, 20 gal. would not work for this fish.

 

[nicer]

a power bluetang will eat this stuff ? it look like adark brown fur that grows tight to the rocks its hard to skrape it off i will have to get somefor the 180 if they eat this stuf

 

[nicer]

a power bluetang will eat this stuff ? it look like adark brown fur that grows tight to the rocks its hard to skrape it off i will have to get somefor the 180 if they eat this stuf will it harm my sps's

 

[NewSchool04]

mine doesn't have a taste for it.

 

[Naperville Reef]

just thought i would give this thread a bump to see if anyone else is having this problem. i added a phosphate reactor and i really haven't seen much of a difference.