What kind of Algae is this?

mike89t

Premium Member
I've got this brown leafy macro algae growing in my tank. Right now it's one bush that is about the size of my fist. Anyone know what type it is? My live rock came from Tonga if that helps.

73065Brown_Algae.jpg
 
I've done a little bit of research. If anyone can add any more to what I've found that would be great or even correct me if I'm wrong.

It apears that Dictyota tends to be an aggressive Macro algae in reef aquariums. If you are not careful removing it, it can spread really easily! Not many things eat it except for Naso Tangs, Virgate Rabbitfish, Dolabella seahares and maybe Diadema Longspine urchins.

Here is another thread on it that I found:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=400988&highlight=dictyota
 
Thanks for the info..

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7010719#post7010719 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mike89t
I've done a little bit of research. If anyone can add any more to what I've found that would be great or even correct me if I'm wrong.

It apears that Dictyota tends to be an aggressive Macro algae in reef aquariums. If you are not careful removing it, it can spread really easily! Not many things eat it except for Naso Tangs, Virgate Rabbitfish, Dolabella seahares and maybe Diadema Longspine urchins.

Here is another thread on it that I found:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=400988&highlight=dictyota
 
Wow this stuff grows fast!

I pruned it back to the rock before I went on vacation. 3 weeks later it was back to the size of a softball.

A Naso Tang may be in my future.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7311667#post7311667 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Typhon
I wonder if a blonde Naso will work as well??

Actually they are very similiar. I'm considering the Blond Naso as my first choice.
 
As much as I would love a Naso I'm hesitant to add one to my 150. I think it will get too big for my tank. I'm leaning towards a Virgate Rabbitfish(Siganus virgatus) now.
 
Here is my new hope at removing this algae. He is currently in my QT so I don't know if he will do the job yet:

73065RabbitfishQT.jpg
 
Those rabbits are some of my absolute favorite fish! Good luck with him as a macro predator. Hopefully he'll do the job on the Dictyota. By the way, is your softball clump of it fluorescing? This genus often expresses a green to blue fluorescence under high light. Rather pretty.. if you like algae. ;)

>Sarah
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7364459#post7364459 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Samala
Those rabbits are some of my absolute favorite fish! Good luck with him as a macro predator. Hopefully he'll do the job on the Dictyota. By the way, is your softball clump of it fluorescing? This genus often expresses a green to blue fluorescence under high light. Rather pretty.. if you like algae. ;)

>Sarah

Not really fluorescing. Still looks just like the photo above but only larger now. At first I was excited by the Dictyota growth as it does sort of look nice. Then I saw how fast it grows and it kind of scared me.
 
That's an evil algae. Just be sure to get ahold of it or it will takeover!
 
If you can, remove the rock it's on. If it's already spread, you're going to have a time controling it! Let us know if the rabbitfish likes it!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7364360#post7364360 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mike89t
Here is my new hope at removing this algae. He is currently in my QT so I don't know if he will do the job yet:

73065RabbitfishQT.jpg


Looks alittle thin, feed him well. My experience with rabbitfish has shown that they require almost constant grazing to do well. Make sure to provide dried nori or something similar on a regular basis. Also know that not all rabbitfish are reefsafe. So far my foxface has been well behaved, but I had a masked rabbitfish ( Siganus Puellis ) that had a taste for mushrooms.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7430189#post7430189 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by InvertLover
If you can, remove the rock it's on. If it's already spread, you're going to have a time controling it! Let us know if the rabbitfish likes it!

It actually growing on my Reef ceramics so there is no way I can physically remove it. Here is a photo of the reef ceramics to give you an idea of why I can't remove them:
73065wallsintank.jpg


I moved the Rabbit fish over to the main display tank. I've seen him take several nibbles on this stuff. I'm optimistic that "Bugs" will eventually take care of this stuff for me. Will keep you posted.

Oh and I made sure to fatten him up while in the QT tank. He went to town on all the macro I had growing in there.
 
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Keep us posted on how effective "Bugs" turns out to be. Spent 2.5 hours manually pulling last evening....about 1/2 quart or the stuff. :rolleyes:

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7364459#post7364459 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Samala
...By the way, is your softball clump of it fluorescing? This genus often expresses a green to blue fluorescence under high light. Rather pretty.. if you like algae. ;)

>Sarah
Yeah....mine has these intense fluorescent blue tips when viewed "just right"....don't care how nice it looks....I want it gone!
 
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