What is this despised algae?!

[mdog3000]

Hey guys,

So I have had a problem with this algae for at least 2 years. I constantly have to scrub all the rocks with a toothbrush (almost every day) and the algae comes back in days if I dont. I have a 125 gallon bare bottom with a 30 gallon refugium and a 30 gallon sump. For circulation I have two sump overflows with a gravity return from the refugium and a Dart powering a closed loop system aided by two Tunze powerheads. When I scrub it off its almost like a powder in the water.

Heres what the aquarium looks like after I scrub the algae off and then blow it off with a powerhead.

I run an external canister filter while cleaning and try to suck up all the excess sediment deposits and what not with a hose attached to the filter. I also use a phosban reactor to try and lower phosphates. Ive tried biological remedies, like a lawn mower blenny but they always become bloated and die (I assume eating themselves to death :headwally My sailfin and hepatus tang also seem to ignore it

Does anybody have any suggestions??

Thanks

 

[brandon429]

There is a pest algae problem challenge thread in the nanos forum,

maybe think this could be beaten with peroxide, thats why I put up the challenge thread> find something peroxide cannot beat type of thing...haven't found anything yet and some of our linked example threads are up to thirty pages of tanks using it.

for this tank we need full tank shots standing back for full view, clear ones. Need to see all the corals in the tank to assess dosing options. Your tank looks ideal for treatment. the way to tell is to take out a sample of the growth and place it in two cups of saltwater from your tank. treat one cup with a small shot of peroxide and let them sit for a day.

If a notable change occurs in the treated container you should join that thread with full pics we will wipe it out. if not, you have an organism that isn't susceptible to weak peroxide and can continue searching for options.

Im interested to know the detrital component of your tank. We need more shots...it looks to be bare bottom, but what does the sump look like>? you have a refugium that never gets cleaned or something>?

if that mass that looks like detritus isn't tank mulm but some sort of frilly growth thats a new one on me. With clearer pics we can see if its some kind of diatom but from color and apparent texture it looks like a filter pad thats never been cleaned.

Thats a strong candidate for oxidative treatment, pics in the threads are sufficient proof.

Your fish aren't a concern, its the corals and inverts I'd like to see before we treat.

depending on your tank stocking you can simply dose the right amount to the tank to wipe out the organism but the best option you can do is to blizzard clean every surface in the tank with the biggest water change in the tanks history, and really get all waste out of it, then while its drained treat the actual rock surfaces with a peroxide spray.

Let it sit for 3 mins or a few, then refill the tank. Its possible a retreatment will be needed, with this method we kill all green hair algae, brush algae, cyano, bubble algae, bryopsis, botrycladia, macro algae on and on I can't see why your organism would be magically resistant.

I have yet to see a plant or moneran or diatom-based invader peroxide did not radically kill as an ideal treatment.

 

[brandon429]

must also know

phosphate levels and what test the measurement was taken with
same for nitrate

pics of the refugium to see what kinds of algae are being used and the detritus loading in the refugium bed

how often are the water changes and what volume

 

[mdog3000]

Hey guys sorry it took me so long to get back. The current readings for nitrite 0ppm, nitrate 0-20ppm (test a little vague), pH 8, phosphate 0ppm. I have some better pics of the algae and some full tank shots. Sorry the full tank shots are a little murky (should have taken the pics before I cleaned). I also have a pic of the refugium and sump. Those are regularly cleaned, so there isnt a whole lot of detritus there. 10 gallon water changes are done every week. I also run a phosban reactor to try and eliminate phosphates and thats changed about every month. I currently run VHOs and T5s. Also on a side note Ive tried using plants in the refugium to control the algae but they always die. I have a 96 watt power compact on them but they never live for some reason.

 

[mdog3000]

Anybody?

 

[mdog3000]

All and any suggestions welcome. I investigated the peroxide method but most of my rocks are too large or have lots of corals attached to them to easily go through with taking individual rocks out and dipping them. I also checked out some algae killing chemicals but Im concerned with the safety of the inverts and corals. Is there anything else I could try or can anybody identify this algae? Thanks

 

[devildog999]

Have you tried going to your local LFS to see if they know what it is? One would think that they have had most issues a tank can have.

 

[brandon429]

Wet Shepperd s tank is nearly just like yours, and we did a full tank addition successfully

Nearly the exact same corals too

If you find nothing else, I bet 95% we can get you the same outcome. She's on page 8 or 10 ish

We can do a very low two week dose, so safe it might not work. But how many fails do we have in that thread lol

I give your tank a very high rate of potential success. We have about 20 tankwide dosers on the linked threads

Its last resort but do-able

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

I tried to get an ID on that vile, nasty stuff last year. It was taking over my son's 5.5g tank. I was never able to get anyone who knew exactly what it was. We'd scrub it and it would grow right back, rather quickly too. He ditched the rock when he set up his 10g tank.

 

[cheezischrist]

i have the same stuff in my tank, but it only grows on 2 rocks. doesnt sppread, but after it gets pretty hairy cyano will grow over it next. it also collects sand. i would just toss the rocks if i wasnt attached to the bright yellow feather duster living in the one, or the mushrooms and zoas attached to the other. my emerald crab does eat it, and the sally lightfoot will pick at it as well, but mostly just prunes it and tosses it away. the two of them just cant keep up with how fast it comes back. i figured it was just something leaching out of the rocks. but since i stopped scrubbing it, it seems to be aiding my refugium, because cyanno, except on these rocks, bubble algae, and slime algae ave not been back

 

[dogstar74]

I know you are scrubbing it daily, but how do you actually remove it? Do you use a filter sock while you are scrubbing? That's how I would get rid of the dead remains of the scrubbed algae. This will serve two purposes, it will also remove a large part of the nutrients that are causing this stuff to grow out. If you just let it circulate until the water clears up again it will come back.

I'd try the hydrogen peroxide. Just add 1ml per 10 gallons daily until it's gone. Observe for anything that doesn't like the H2O2 and decide if making them angry is worth the peroxide dose.

You may try an Algal turf scrubber. There's a good thread in the advanced topics forum. It may help to grow another type of basic algae to rob this nusience of it's needed nutrients.

Just a couple of thoughts on what I would try.

Cheers,
Aaron

 

[dzhuo]

Well, these are not algae. They are either protists or bryozoans. A little more discussion: What's all these little trees on my LR?.

 

[mdog3000]

To answer dogstar I use a hang on canister filter that I place on the main tank to try and remove the algae after scrubbing. I also use a sponge on the sump return (although my sump overflow seems to slow to get that much of the detritus before it resettles). I added a closed loop system using a Dart pump on max flow to try and fix the problem, but it doesnt seem to have fixed the problem. Ive tried algae blennies also but they eat so much algae and become bloated and then die. I guess my only option is peroxide. Im goin to try and take an algae sample back to university with me to try and get an i.d.

 

[CHSUB]

hypnea, maybe? increase your cuc!

 

[brandon429]

The 1/10 ratio is safe like ds mentioned. Considering how bad you hate the algae(?) I don't have any other guesses. You should at least pull a sample rock out, spot treat a target area for two mins, rinse without scrubbing it off and put back in

This will establish susceptibility compared to non treated surroundings

I already know it will respond we've already treated a tank like this but it was a spot treat, start with 1:10 dosed Mondays and Fridays. If no change in a week compared to test treatment, add Wednesdays run another week. Corals should be fine. If any of them act up, and its worth not killing this pest to save them, stop treatment and do huge water change matching temp and specific gravity

That's at least a known safe zone that won't wipe out your tank but it might too weak to get the target.the highest dose I'd do in that tank is 2:10 3x week but that's after a month of slow ramp up and hefty water changes during this rx run.

For this above I give you a 95% chance of beating it by April. If not I give up Lol.

 

[mdog3000]

Chsub What is cuc?

 

[Rytek]

He means "Clean Up Crew"

 

[mdog3000]

O Ive tried that before. Ive repeatedly added a large amount of snails but their impact is small. I dont like hermits (because they eat the snails) or emerald crabs because I previously had one eating fish.

 

[rick12]

i have the same in my systems. never bothered me since i just thought it meant healthy live rock! what i did recently is add a yellow eye kole tang. it picks endlessly at the rock and all this disappeared. it does still grow in the sump and overflow.
HTH

 

[brandon429]

In hindsight on a tank this big I'd do the 1:10 for a month, not a week before upping

We know the method works but out of safety I don't want to rush these large tank treatments. Its easy to get a little headstrong after the other successes.