Noob needing ID help and advice

texdoc77

texdoc77

New member
Hello I have had my tank finished cycling for about 3 months now and am now starting to see some "new things" and algae. I believe I have bryopsis which I have read up on and am not excited about, but if that is the only "baddie" I can handle that (or maybe not, but I'll try). But I also think I may have some dinoflagellates and maybe even some bubble algae and if I have all of those... well I dunno, I might just start over...

So here are some pix, the first ones are what I believe to be the bryopsis:

IMG_1822 by texdoc77, on Flickr

IMG_1821 by texdoc77, on Flickr

Is this dinoflagellate or just GHA?

IMG_1819 by texdoc77, on Flickr

IMG_1820 by texdoc77, on Flickr

And could the purpley (sp?) stuff in the back with the bubbles in it be bubble algea?

IMG_1824 by texdoc77, on Flickr

And one final question, what is this feathery looking thing under my brain coral, it pops in and out really quick...

IMG_1825 by texdoc77, on Flickr


Thanks in advance...
 
Last edited:
I can't see anything in the bottom pic on my phone, but I had a little barnacle that did that. Is it like a regular, pulsing, in and out? If it stays out unless it gets bothered maybe a feather worm.

Idk about the first few, I wouldn't call it bryopsis yet. Everything with bubbles on it looks like Dino's to me, unless your skimmer is sending in microbubbles that are collecting on less-terrible algae. You would see the little bubbles in the water if that were the case. If all that gas is coming from the algae itself, bad news :(
if you rub it between your fingers does it moosh apart like snot, or do you wind up with strands of plant-ish stuff?
 
All I could really see was hair algae and the bubbles I believe to be respiration from the algae. I saw what you was talking about in the last pic but it is not really clear enough for me to say. look up aiptasia or mojano and see if that is it.

I would manually remove as mush algae as possible and read up on ways to get rid of it, there are plenty of threads about it.
 
Looks like hair algae to me, too. The purple might be cyano. All the typical stuff you see when starting out, no worries.

Not sure about that last picture either but like Tony said, look up aiptasia or mojano.
 
last pick is not majano or aptasia it is a feather duster or barnacle, harmless. as for the algae i would say just try and manually remove as much as you can by turning pumps off, scraping as much off as you can and then siphon out as much as possible. you can do this while doing a water change to make it easier for you. it is normal to have algae blooms in the first six months or so after cycling these things usually go away with time but getting as much out manually will definitely not hurt at all.
 
OK thanks to all who responded. The last pic is indeed a fan worm. I am currently getting my feeding under better control over the last week to help with phosphates and have started running some phosban in my canister filter. I have removed quite a bit in the past, but it keeps coming back, an issue I believe related to my nutrient levels in the water column and the fact that the right side of my aquarium is close to a large outside window. I am contemplating adding a swinging wood panel to that side to shade that side of the aquarium during the day.

Also I know jumping on bryopsis sooner rather than later is a good idea and my mag is currently sitting at 1300 so I may just start raising it a little with Tech-M anyway while I continue for a positive identification.

Please keep the comments coming, and thanks again.
 
I don't see any bryopsis, just hair algae and cyanobacteria. How often are you doing water changes and cleaning your canister filter? Are you using RODI water?
 
Sugar Magnolia said:
I don't see any bryopsis, just hair algae and cyanobacteria. How often are you doing water changes and cleaning your canister filter? Are you using RODI water?
Click to expand...

I use distilled water from the grocery store and do a 10% water change weekly. I clean the canister filter every two weeks and I have in it activated carbon and phosguard along with a filter pad, I do not have bioballs or the ceramic cylinders it originally came with as I have live rock and no need for biological filtration in the canister.
 
I would say if you do not have one. invest in a Phosphate and Nitrate test kit. As well as Calcium and Alk... NOT API...

Test and Tell us the Results. Also keep a log of the results to get a better understanding on your water chemistry and rather the nutrients are going up or down..
As far as the Bubble algae. I would Remove one piece of rock at a time. and use a bucket of tank water and scrub it off. Then a second bucket of fresh ro/di saltwater and Rinse it . this keeps the spores from spreading. My opinion Cleaning Algae off rocks in the Tank only help it spread to other rocks by releasing its spores
 
ericarenee said:
I would say if you do not have one. invest in a Phosphate and Nitrate test kit. As well as Calcium and Alk... NOT API...

Test and Tell us the Results. Also keep a log of the results to get a better understanding on your water chemistry and rather the nutrients are going up or down..
As far as the Bubble algae. I would Remove one piece of rock at a time. and use a bucket of tank water and scrub it off. Then a second bucket of fresh ro/di saltwater and Rinse it . this keeps the spores from spreading. My opinion Cleaning Algae off rocks in the Tank only help it spread to other rocks by releasing its spores
Click to expand...

Good advice, thank you. I have routinely been testing my system. My parameters are as follows

Temp: 80-82
Salinity: 1.026
pH: 7.9-8.2
NO4: 0-5ppm
PO4: 0.05-0.08ppm (though reading up on this I don't think much of this result as I do have quite a bit of algae)
Ca: 575ppm
Alk: 7.7dkh
Mag: 1300

My calcium has been falling, my alkalinity has been rising, my pH is steady and having less diurnal variation, my nitrate and phosphate seem not to change much at all, but overall both are slowly creeping down. I will continue to monitor.
 
Dkuhlmann said:
LOL why do you want bryopsis so badly? No it doesn't look like bryopsis.
Click to expand...

Obviously I do not want bryopsis, however, I would like to get on top of a problem sooner rather than later and positive identification would be helpful. Thank you for taking the time to look and reply.
 
texdoc77 said:
Obviously I do not want bryopsis, however, I would like to get on top of a problem sooner rather than later and positive identification would be helpful. Thank you for taking the time to look and reply.
Click to expand...

My point was you are trying to get on top of a problem that you don't have. Looks like GHA to me and it seems several others. Don't look for the worst or you just might find it as the saying goes.
 
texdoc77 said:
OK so this is an up close of the tuft of plant growing in the first two pics... from what I see online this is bryopsis right?

FullSizeRender by texdoc77, on Flickr
Click to expand...

gone fishin said:
That does look like Bryopsis to me.
Click to expand...

eddiereefs said:
btw that is bryopsis based on the feathered ends. http://www.3reef.com/threads/bryopsis-learn-what-it-is-and-how-to-kill-it.100365/
Click to expand...

Based on this new picture, yes that is bryopsis. In your original pictures it looked like typical hair algae.
 
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