What's in my star polyps?

[LCDRDATA]

I fed all of my inverts earlier tonight - I've noticed the star polyps tend to close up after eating well but then when I looked closer this is what I saw:

Can anyone tell me what green stuff in between the closed polyps is? For reference you can see some open polyps in the lower right. I'm guessing (and hoping) it's some kind of harmless green algae, but I really have no good idea. I've never seen it before, probably because the whole field of polyps is generally fully open when the tank is lit. I have noticed some of my snails (astrea, trochus, margarita) crawling around in the polyp field from time to time - doesn't seem to bother the polyps at all. Thanks!

 

[Hop]

Looks like a strain of hair algae or bryopsis... Need a better pic to say for sure.

 

[crvz]

well, any algae like that can be suffocating on corals. that looks like common green hair algae, but it may be byropsis. in either case, I'd take a good look at your filtration system and try to figure out why you have excess nutrients in the water column, as that's whats going to feed algaes.

 

[crvz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13195599#post13195599 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Hop
Looks like a strain of hair algae or bryopsis... Need a better pic to say for sure.

dang you, Hop. Are you in my head again?!?

 

[Hop]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13195621#post13195621 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by crvz
dang you, Hop. Are you in my head again?!?

:lol: At least our advice is always consistent!!!!

 

[LCDRDATA]

I've been trying to pull the phosphate level down; it seems stuck at 0.4. Max nitrogen cycle values have been ammonia 0.25, nitrite 0.1, nitrates ~10, with ammonia & nitrate usually at 0 (although a bit elevated lately). Any other suggestions? BTW, forgive my ignorance, but what is bryopsis, and would that be more or less of a problem than hair algae?

 

[Hop]

The nice thing about bryopsis is elevating the mag level slowly to about 1600ppm for 2-4 weeks usually helps make it go away.

But bryopsis is another algae similar in appearance to hair algae, but the strands look more like a fern.

 

[LCDRDATA]

If I go that route, other than the bryopsis, is a magnesium level that high going to have an adverse effect on anything else in the tank? Phrased differently, what different kinds of organisms would react badly to that much magnesium?

 

[Hop]

Many people, including myself, have done it with no noticeable affect on anything. And I have a full mixed reef with a plethora of different critters. Long-term, I'm not sure, but for the few weeks, it was all fine.

 

[LCDRDATA]

How "slowly" should I raise the Mg level? Assuming I need to raise it from 1300 to 1600 ppm, can I do that over the course of, say, 7-8 days (~40ppm or roughly 3% increase per day)? I ask because (among other things) strictly following the label directions would take about three months for the corresponding rise.

 

[crvz]

maybe 50 ppm per day?

 

[reefergeorge]

First I would check your water source for phosphates, and use a turkey baster to blow off your rocks once a day. I have never done anything to battle HA, and it usually goes away on its own if you fix the problem.

 

[Hop]

We need to ensure that it is bryopsis before we start raising mag levels the plan of attach for typical hair algae is quite different...

 

[LCDRDATA]

I'll try to get a better photo - the macro setting on my camera doesn't seem to be working properly. I'm already working on getting the phosphates down. Switching assumptions to "normal" hair algae vs. bryopsis, what's the best way (other than nutrient reduction) to attack that problem?

 

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

Once stuff settles in like that it hardly ever goes away on it's own. It'll feed itself almost. You're probably gonna have to treat it like a GHA outbreak and clean off what you can, take the rock out and scrub it off, look into snails/crabs, etc. Otherwise it'll just suffocate your polyps and snub em out.

 

[LCDRDATA]

Here's an attempt at more photos:

I don't know if the contrast, especially where the background is black, helps you ID this or not. That's the best I can do for this evening. Anybody care to give an new/updated ID with a confidence level? Thanks!

 

[flashyleopard]

Regardless of the algae type, you can help stop your polyps from being smothered by it by plucking it out from them now and using a turkey baster or powerhead, aimed at them, to blow detritus and algae out from around the polyps and off of the polyp mat. Looks like hair algae to me, btw.

 

[LCDRDATA]

On the one hand that makes sense, but how much risk is there that I'll just end up with it everywhere else as well (or, everything else being equal, am I already headed in that direction)?

 

[crvz]

you're more than likely already headed in that direction. removing it and blowing detritus arent going to add much to the equation.

 

[LCDRDATA]

In that sense, I want to make sure I get everything off without damaging the polyps. For the stuff that won't just blow off, how about a soft-bristle toothbrush? Q-tips? Any other suggestions?