new to reefing. Tell me what this is.

[liquidr1]

Hello everyone.

Iv been in the freshwater hobby for over 10 years. Just now getting into reef tanks. I have a 29 gallon with 10 gallon sump, protein skimmer, gfo reactor etc. Tank is doing great.

I have a question about something that has started growing on my live rock. At first I thought it was pretty cool, but its starting to spread everywhere. Can anyone tell me what this is. Iv searched and cant find anything on the web.

 

[Grimreaperz]

Could be a type of Rhodophyta or Red Algae, Sea weed essentially. But never seen it in person just from research over the past 2 weeks. Can we get a vet to confirm or deny?

 

[CafeReef]

Almost looks like dragons breath macro to me

 

[Grimreaperz]

Almost looks like dragons breath macro to me

Yeah definitely could be that as well. Either way could make a great addition to a Fuge I would think. looks pretty!

 

[cincyjim]

I don't know if that is good or bad but it sure is nice looking!

 

[C.Eymann]

Could be a type of Rhodophyta or Red Algae, Sea weed essentially. But never seen it in person just from research over the past 2 weeks. Can we get a vet to confirm or deny?

Some species of Rhodophyta, could possibly be Fauchea sp. But Rhodophyta has my vote :thumbsup:

 

[liquidr1]

When I got the live rock, it was just little round red specs on the rock. The tank is amlost 4 months old. At about 2 months in, the red specs started growing into this stuff. My wife likes it, but it is quickly spread to all my live rock. I have one big piece of rock that is already 50% covered in bright purple coralline algae and I don't want this stuff taking over.

Any good way to remove.

Water parameters are great.
Phosphate: not sure as I don't have a hanhahchecker, but I added a bulk reef supply GFO recator a month ago and all my GHA and green spots on my LR are completely gone. So im assuming my Phosphate is under control.

Ph. 7.8 API test kit
Amonia 0 API test kit
Nitrite 0 Api test kit
Nitrate 0 API test kit

Calcium 420-430 Red Sea test kit
Alk. 9.8 dkh
mag. 1280-1320.

Using Red Sea Coral Pro Salt.
Im doing 5 gallon water changes once per week.

 

[C.Eymann]

Too bad you don't have a bigger tank, an acanthurus tang would decimate that stuff, manual removal works, I'm sure some crabs, notably emeralds/minthrax will probably munch on it, scarlet reef hermits would probably eat it as well. However, I doubt the common blue leg hermits would touch it. I'll let other members chime in with other suggestions of natural means to control it.
Best of luck!

 

[thelawnwrangler]

I would love that in my tank

 

[bat21]

That is sort of the rub with macro algae. Some of it is beautiful and can add nice color and character to a tank, but it can also thrive and take over the tank. I don't know for sure what it is, but you may need to scrub the rocks it is on to get rid of it (if you want to get rid of it). Otherwise you will really have to make sure to keep your nitrate level down, because that is what macro algae feeds on. The higher your nitrates, the more it will grow.

 

[liquidr1]

Maybe ill leave it on one rock, but I don't want it taking over all my rock. Nitriates read between 0 and 5 on my API test kit. The color is hard on my eyes, but it looks closer to 0 than 5ppm. I only have 2 small clown fish in the tank. I feed just enough pellet food for them to consume immediately. no food get past them to collect on the bottom. Filter sock is replaced once a week when I do my water changes. I have the Bulk Reef Supply RO/DI unit with TDS meter. It currently reads 0 tds.

If it is a type of macro algae, I guess its better than the green hair algae I had about 2 months ago. The GFO took care of that. My question is, If phosphate are low, and my nitrates or close to or almost 0. what is supporting the growth?

 

[bat21]

Maybe ill leave ii on one rock, but I don't want it taking over all my rock. Nitriates read between 0 and 5 on my API test kit. The color is hard on my eyes, but it looks closer to 0 than 5ppm. I only have 2 small clown fish in the tank. I feed just enough pellet food for them to consume immediately. no food get past them to collect on the bottom. Filter sock is replaced once a week when I do my water changes. I have the Bulk Reef Supply RO/DI unit with TDS meter. It currently reads 0 tds.

If it is a type of macro algae, I guess its better than the green hair algae I had about 2 months ago. The GFO took care of that. My question is, If phosphate are low, and my nitrates or close to or almost 0. what is supporting the growth?

The nitrates that the algae eat are no longer in the water column and therefore won't show up on any tests. So even if your tests say zero nitrates or zero phosphate, if you have algae growing, then obviously there are nutrients for it to use.

 

[LED Jack]

I really like your lighting liquidr1 what are you running? Very crisp and white.

 

[FortyFour]

Some people pay good money for that type of macro algae. If you're looking to control it, there are plenty of fish that should love to graze it.

 

[liquidr1]

I really like your lighting liquidr1 what are you running? Very crisp and white.

It is the Current Orbit Marine LED. I was under the impression that its not the best light out there. But this is my first attempt at a reef tank and I planned on just soft corals. The LFS suggested it because I didn't want to spend a ton on lighting. I would like to upgrade to a better light, but some of the LED lights were just way out of my price range for this setup. I would like to upgrade to a quad bulb t5 ho lamp in the near future.