WEIRD Algae id's needed.. and a stange rock

[TOURKID]

Ive had the rock 2 years and in that time it has been the weirdest rock in my tank.

First it started to grow those green polyps after a year of being in my tank.

a REALLY weird sponge grew out of a hole with strings all thru it. Lots of critters.. cool stuff.

Well the last 5 months this algae (i think?) has been covering the rock.

Very slowly. Its starting to grow over the polyps and choke them.
Its ugly brown, and rubbery (was easy to peel from around the polyps, but when on rock i can barely even scrape it.

THEN, this green possibley micro algea started growing next to it! (saw that last week) what is it??

And i guess this is bubble algae, but not the regular kind..

Im really sorta worried about this brown stuff. I have nightmares of it taking over the tank.

ANY idea what it could be?? ive looked thru algae pages and I havent found anything similar.

Same for the green leafy things, any id?

Thankyou thankyou!

 

[john rochon]

I'd be very worried about the brown spongy leafy looking'algea''
I've seen that stuff take over a friends rockwork super fast. not sure of an ID

 

[gsoaxionsk8]

that brown stuff Will take over your tank if you let it. I only know of two things that will eat it, tuxedo urchins and Naso tangs. I would strongly suggest doings something now or it will end up chokingout those zoos

 

[TOURKID]

john.. what did your friend do about it?

I can get a tuxedo urchin... but its right next to my anem... AND what else will a tuxedo urchin eat on my rocks? coraline?

what about covering that whole space with mounting clay/epoxy?
my maroon might chew my hand off, but if i dont miss any spots then technically its gone (?)

 

[TacoKing]

Yeah, that stuff does grow pretty fast. I'd make sure you phosphates are low and you have good skimming. Most urchins will eat it and I think i had a foxface that will eat it. It's a calcium based algae if I remember correct.

 

[TOURKID]

so youve had it before? did your fish wipe it out? I guess im going to stop by phishys this weekend and get an urchin....

My phos couldent be low....

 

[Frick-n-Frags]

smooth rubbery brown sheets = lobophora = PITA
small fan thing in zoos is a small calcerous macro. they can get to be a low level PITA if they bloom into hundreds of those, but they crumble away pretty easily

valonia, the bubbles. be relentless about removing every last sphere, balloon animal, bubbly mat, whatever shape.

I have dealt with pretty much every algae that shows up in tanks successfully, except valonia.
once it hits critical mass, nothing can stop it.

 

[TOURKID]

.hm, well lobophora is also a moth! lol

Thanks so much for the info. Im going to go and turn the pumps off and go algae hunting.

Getting a tuxedeo on saturday. stupid rock....

 

[Darsea]

I think you're looking at early cynobacteria. Depending on the color of your lights it can look brown to purple to red. I've hosed it off some living rock and the other living polyps survived. You could you a "red Slime" treatment then a water change. Hope this helps!
Darsea

 

[chrissreef]

oh, i hate this stuff! it's found its way into every tank I've ever owned... this is how iv'e gotten rid of it (cutting/breaking it off won't work, nor will covering it - it will just reproduce).

Not sure about Naso/urchin but imo they'll just keep in in check

I had it in just a few areas I could get to easily... what i did was take out those pieces, dried the spot off as best I could... and took a lighter and just burned the stuff - worked great! =)

I dunno how much you have but it will take over a tank with time - no skimming, phos remover, tank maintenance, UV sterilizer etc. will destroy it =(

 

[chrissreef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11143076#post11143076 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Darsea
I think you're looking at early cynobacteria. Depending on the color of your lights it can look brown to purple to red. I've hosed it off some living rock and the other living polyps survived. You could you a "red Slime" treatment then a water change. Hope this helps!
Darsea

sorry, it's not cyno or diatoms - it's very thick and is def a macro of some sort =(

I've only seen it in one book - and I don't think they said how to get rid or it =P

 

[TOURKID]

thats crap. Im going naypom on this algae

I cant get the rock out of the tank, its on the bottom of the pile and weighs 20 pounds with a anem and clowneggs stuck to it lol

so no fire.

theres gotta be a resonable way to fight it though, if it was killing tanks we would here more about it

 

[chrissreef]

it doesn't kill like most would thing - most tanks aren't up long enough for it to completely take over... it's also slow, unlike hair/bubble which can take over in 6 months.

my advice is burn any pieces that you can get out of the tank... the low hanging pieces - turn off the current and try to get as much off as you can with tweezers... and then do that weekly until i finally gives up =) (crosses fingers)

 

[Paintbug]

the dark brown spongy algae is probably Peyssonnelia sp.. like most algae outbreaks it usually is a sign of to many nutrients in the water.

 

[TOURKID]

yep i definately have some phosphate issues, nitrates are reading at 5. I have some phos sponge on the way..

Im prone too overfeeding, and i just shocked the system a little by adding 3 fish at once when i havent added fish in a long time...

but in retrospect, this algae has been in my tank maybe 6 months, growing extremely slowly. and i do a 20% water change weekly

Im going to look up Peyssonnelia now. I searched under lobophilia all day and its not fanlike. the only reason i was able to peel any of it was because the polyps were slightly moveable. on the rock its like cement.

hope this isent as scary

 

[TOURKID]

yep thats definately what it is.