Red Growth ID

[arbee]

Hi. I noticed a small amount of dark red small bristles on some live rock that I got with an order for mushroom corals a couple weeks ago. I am noticing this red branching hairlike growth getting bigger and longer. I tried pulling it out, but it seems rooted into the rock. I hope it's something that is non invasive, since I have several mushrooms growing and reproducing on that particular piece of rock. It hasn't spread to anything else..yet.
Any ideas of what it is and if I should 'deal' with it?
Thanks~

 

[jimmyray]

Looks like standard "turf algae." Nothing to worry about, prune by hand if you're really concerned about aesthetics.

 

[arbee]

Thanks for your input jimmyray. I noticed one the astrea snails trying to munch on it this afternoon. I'll check later to see if there was any progress at mowing it down a little.
Appreciate the id.

 

[DensityMan]

Destroy it with whatever means you have availableto you (especially if you enjoy zoanthids and other mat-growing softies). IME it becomes very invasive under certain circumstances and I am currently losing a favored zoanthid colony to it. /sigh

I have a shorter, red "turf algae" that is much less invasive, but this longer-growing scrubby, hard-to-remove stuff is on my short list of algae I would use micro-nukes against if/when they become available.

 

[DensityMan]

On second looking at your pic, it appears some or all of your "algae" may in fact be a feather-headed brown-orange hydroid (also on my short list). In the small quatities you have that in currently it should be easy enough to get rid of with a pair of curved-tip needle-nose pliers and some concentrated effort.

Pictural examples of the hydroid I think I see in your pic:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=613554

and

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=405843

and

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=226994

and finally my first posting about them (also in the Algae forum)

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=226803


Hope those help (IF that's what I saw in your pic)...

 

[arbee]

DensityMan, here are a few more pics. I don't think the hydroid pics your link shows are similar to this stuff. This is kind of stiff, almost like bristles on a hairbrush but getting longer an wirey. I may just have to try to 'pluck' it out. I don't want to loose my mushrooms on that rock.

<P>

<P>Darn, I wish I had a better camera to really zoom in on this stuff.<P>Thanks for the help

 

[DensityMan]

Alright, now I think you have both. :lol:

I see the tough, red stringy growths.

I also see a few of the brown-orange feather-head hydroids. They are most noticable in the last picture, middle-right (the orange, fuzzy, out-of-focus blobs - they have enough definition that I still think that's what some of that growth is). It may be something else entirely that looks like them when out of focus, but I'd at least give the area a good long stare...

Good luck on both though. It may not be a clear sweep the first trip though, but if you stay on top of it you should be able to conquer them both.

 

[kmk2307]

How is the battle going? Any advice in how to reduce this alga? Try looking up Gelidopsis, by the way.

Kevin

 

[jimmyray]

I don't see any hydroids in those photos. Also, I don't think that removing this stuff is critical. It's not harming anything, just taking up some real estate. I would rather leave it be and prune by hand if it becomes a problem.

 

[arbee]

I took the rock out of the tank for a few seconds, set it in a bowl of water and tried to scrape some of it off with a scalpel. It's pretty tuff and wirey so I couldn't clean it off too well. I hated keeping the mushrooms out too long so didn't accomplish much. I'm going to keep an eye on it and if it starts irritating the mushrooms, I may just have to try to frag the mushrooms off that rock and throw it out.
I'm new to this, so trying to frag or reattach a mushroom is not up my alley. I may just have to take the dive though if this stuff starts to spread and bother the corals.

 

[eleodes]

i have something real similar to the wiry algae on a couple pieces of LR. i enjoy the way it looks. where it has started to spread a little too much i have been able to scrub off with toothbrush.

i would definatley keep it away from any colonial polyps. it could be a real hastle to try to remove if it grows amongst them.

 

[slant77]

Does any one know what the name of this algea is?

 

[GorillaReefer]

No, but get a fox face or rabbit fish, they'll eat it all.

 

[Samala]

Kevin's suggestions (quite some time ago actually..) of Gelidopsis is probably as close as we'll ever get. There are hundreds of red macroalgae that could fit into a red turf type such as you see in these pics. Identifying these guys to even genus level is really asking a lot!

>Sarah

 

[honeybee]

Hello,

I have this red, wire-like macro in two reef systems, it is not a turf algae. I have red turf in my ATS and some of the red wire macro. It will slowly form into mats that over grow polyps and mushrooms. You can pull large sections of the mat off the rocks but the polys go with the algae. I have tried Foxface, different angelfish, emerald crabs, snails, urchins and nothing keeps it under control. Cooking your rocks is no guarantee that is will not be back.

One thing that will get off the rocks is an 1800 psi power washer, little hard on everything but the coraline algae. The power washer does the best job of removing Dictyota.

Honeybee