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FAQs about Brown/Phaeophyte Algae/Kelp
Identification 2
Related Articles: Brown Algae, Avoiding Algae Problems in Marine System,
Algae
Control, Marine Maintenance,
Nutrient Control and Export,
Marine Scavengers, Snails, Hermit
Crabs, Mithrax/Emerald
Green Crabs, Sea Urchins, Blennies, Algae
Filters, Ctenochaetus/Bristle Mouth
Tangs, Zebrasoma/Sailfin Tangs,
Skimmers, Skimmer Selection, Marine Algae, Coralline Algae, Green Algae, Brown
Algae, Blue-Green
"Algae"/(Cyanobacteria), Diatoms, Brown
Algae,
Related FAQs: Brown Algae
Identification 1, Brown Algae ID
3, Brown Algae ID 4, &
Brown Algae 1, Brown Algae 2, Brown
Algae Behavior, Brown Algae
Compatibility/Control, Brown Algae
Selection, Brown Algae Systems,
Brown Algae Nutrition, Brown Algae Disease, Brown Algae Reproduction/Propagation,
Marine Algicide Use, Nutrient Limitation, Marine Algae Eaters, Culturing Macro-Algae; Controlling: BGA/Cyano, Red/Encrusting Algae, Green Algae, Brown/Diatom Algae, Marine Algae ID 1, Marine Algae ID 2, Marine Algae Control FAQs II, Marine Algaecide Use, Nutrient Limitation, Marine Algae Eaters, Culturing Macro-Algae; Controlling: BGA/Cyano, Red/Encrusting Algae, Green Algae, Brown/Diatom Algae,
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New Print and
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Marine Aquarium Algae Control
by Robert (Bob) Fenner
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Encrusting brown algae 11/28/08
Thanks for your great website. I wondered if you could give us
some advice about algae. <I'll certainly try>
Unfortunately we don't seem to have much luck with
encouraging coralline algae to grow in our tank. <Mmm... to
refresh/re-state... this may be due to a lack of alkaline reserve
and/or biomineral mix/balance (takes both), competition and
predation... or conditions that favor competition...> Over the
past two years we've fought off growths of diatoms, red
slime, red bubble algae, Caulerpa, and hair algae, but the
coralline never really takes hold. <I wish I could give you my
"pitch" on RedOx... I'll bet yours, and the
conditions that promote/allow it here are largely at fault>
Now we've got some purple coralline growing in there, but
mostly what's taken over since our Rabbitfish bumped off the
hair algae is the encrusting brown stuff in the enclosed
pictures. It grows in circles on the back of the tank and
encrusting on the rocks. It's sort of rust-brown color,
sometimes with lavender spots in the center and/or white hairs on
top. <I see it... unfortunately does appear to be the
Brown/Phaeophyte, Lobophora (likely variegata)... not easy to
control: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brnalgcomp.htm> Do you
know what this is, if it's bad for the tank, and if so how to
get rid of it? Our Rabbitfish shows no interest in it. <Can be
bad... in that it proliferates, covers over space you'd like
to have for other purposes... is largely unpalatable... Needs to
be addressed by competition, physical removal, chemical and
physical filtration... the Other pic is a mix of greens and
BGA... evidence of low RedOx, too much nutrient, lack of
circulation/aeration... You'd do well to spend some time
perusing WWM re Algae...:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/maintenance/maintindex.htm
toward the bottom. Bob Fenner> Thanks for your time! Laura
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Mysterious Growth... repeat question and
image 6/26/08 Hi Everyone! <Hi Bob, Mich here.>
Well, even though I'm calling it a mysterious growth, it may
not be a mystery to you. <Nope.> I've attached a picture
of a leafy growth. (I apologize for the photo but it's the best
I could take. <Good enough I believe.> I couldn't get any
closer with my camera.) I believe it to be some sort of algae but I
am not certain what it is. <Looks like Lobophora to me. A
nuisance algae. I would make haste and remove.> As you can see,
it tends to follow the contour of the rock. It's actually
rather interesting. <interesting for now, but can easily become
a problem.> The question is, of course, is this friend or foe?
<Foe.> Should it be removed? <Yup!> Thanks for your
time and assistance.-Bob <Welcome Bob!
Cheers,
Mich> |
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 Seen it, bought the tee... B
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Mysterious Growth... Looks like Lobophora to me!
6/12/08 Hi Everyone! <Hi Bob, Mich with you tonight.>
Well, even though I'm calling it a mysterious growth, it may
not be a mystery to you. <Tis not.> I've attached a
picture of a leafy growth. (I apologize for the photo but it's
the best I could take. I couldn't get any closer with my
camera.) I believe it to be some sort of algae but I am not certain
what it is. As you can see, it tends to follow the contour of the
rock. It's actually rather interesting. The question is, of
course, is this friend or foe? <Looks like Lobophora to me, in
which case I would remove ASAP. More here and related links in
blue: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brnalgae.htm > Should it be
removed? <I would!> Thanks for your time and
assistance.-Bob
<Welcome,
Mich> |
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 Me too. RMF.
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Green algae ID...No Brown Algae...
Sargassum 4/1/08 Hi everybody, <Hi Ken, Mich with
you.> Great site, I love it. <Nice to hear! Glad you like
it!> My question today is on an algae ID. I had sent a picture
of this alga once before to try and get an ID on it, but the pic
was terrible. It is on a piece of rock I had purchased about a year
ago, and a few months ago this started growing on it. The buds were
present since purchase, but it did not decide to grow until
recently. I have not added anything to the tank at all since this
addition. Hopefully these are better. <Decent shots.> One is
a picture take on Feb 14th, the other two taken March 24th, just to
show growth. The last is a picture of an arm of this alga showing
little balls on it. <This looks like brown algae, likely a
Sargassum, but I'm not sure which species. The balls you see
are gas bladders. You can read a bit more here, though I'm not
sure that this is the species you have, but will give you some
information:
http://www.exoticsguide.org/species_pages/s_muticum.html
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brnalgae.htm Is this plant going sexual?
<Doubtful.> If so is it a potential problem for the tank?
<Shouldn't be.> hope the file size is ok. <Yes, we
have a new server that can handle much larger files.> Thanks in
advance Ken.
<Welcome! Mich> |
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| Crab mystery 3/3/08 Dear
WetWebMedia Crew, Back in late November of 2005 I came across
something odd on a beach in La Jolla, CA. I put pictures and movies
of it (captured from my cell phone) online at
http://vision.ucsd.edu/tmp/crab/ . Basically, it was a
racquetball-sized fleshy orb with nipples on either end that, when
cut open, had lots of squishy jelly like stuff in it and, to my
great surprise, a tiny white crab floating in a fluid filled sac.
The crab was very much alive, and scampered away after I cut open
the sac. (I did the cutting with a sharp seashell fragment.) I
tried doing some Googling on crab reproduction and the like to
figure out what the heck this thing was, but I haven't had any
luck. Might you know what to make of this? best regards Serge
<Mmm, the fleshy bulb is a pneumatocyst (bladder) from a
Phaeophyte... a brown kelp/large seaweed... Nereocystis... see
here: http://www.mbayaq.org/efc/living_species/print.asp?inhab=171
the bits inside are "space parasites" if you will...
sponge et al... making their life where they can... washed up on
the beach... the "drift"... "And those beasts have
littler beasts upon their backs to bite'm". Bob
Fenner> |
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Algae ID: Possible Colpomenia spp. - 1/24/08
Hello All, <Hi Mark, my apologies for the delay in
responding!> I'm looking for an ID. No luck over @
ReefCentral. Been growing on the return center overflow for around
2 weeks. Yellow ball like hollow structure. Close up they are a
little fuzzy. <Hmmmm, I'm a little fuzzy too on this ID, but
if it's a yellow/amber color (appears green in the photo), then
it might be a species of the brown algae: Colpomenia. Please see
these links at Algaebase.org to confirm/rule out:
http://www.algaebase.org/search/species/detail/?species_id=74
http://www.algaebase.org/search/species/detail/?species_id=831
.> Thanks in advance Mark
<You're very welcome. Take care --Lynn> |
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 Outstanding Lynn. RMF.
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Purple Seaweed ID... Dictyota -- 1/2/08 Hi
Crew, <Hi there, Mich here.> I've been scouring the web
(and your site) trying to ID this Beautiful piece of weed
<Appropriate noun.> I collected while snorkeling at the beach
today (I just couldn't resist attempting to propagate this
beauty), <Well, you shouldn't have a hard time doing
that!> but of course with no knowledge of this weed's
species, name or any other characteristic other than its a purple
weed, <Yes it is!> I've been unable to turn up any info
on it. <I shall help you.> I wonder if you might be able to
ID it for me. <Yes! Is Dictyota, a brown algae that can be a big
nuisance! Is beautiful, but can easily grow out of control.> It
was collected of the east cost of Australia, south east of Sydney
NSW, in about 3M's of water. <I'm jealous!> There
were vast amounts of it covering rocks in between enormous black
and white feather dusters, and kelp. <Wow! Wish I were there
with you and a camera!> It is a greeny brown colour when viewed
side on, but a bright iridescent purple under sunlight and tank
lights when viewed from above. I had to restrain myself from trying
to detach one of the golf ball sized feather dusters, though there
were hundreds of them as well, I thought them better left alone.
<Likely best... I think Australia collection regulations are
pretty strict!> Water temp in this region is about 20-22 degrees
<Celsius> this time of year (but range between 15 and 25 year
round), and I don't know if this helps, but it was all growing
on an east facing vertical rock face. <Dictyota generally
isn't very picky.> Not knowing much about it, I've
placed it in my 20 Gal aquarium, which doesn't have much in it
<A good thing!> (just in case its noxious), <Is!> but
really need help ID'ing it. <Is Dictyota... Very
beautiful... but can be very aggressive. Some reading for you here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brnalgae.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brnalgcomp.htm > Thanks a million for
your time. <Welcome! Happy to help!>
Andrew B.
<Michelle L.> |
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Unidentified items in Nano - one is algae,
Lobophora variegata 10/08/07 Dear Friend, <Happy Monday>
Can you please help me in identifying something I have in my Nano.
My tank parameters are Nitrates 10ppm CA seems to be ok as
coralline is growing well. Phosphates - undetectable but I see a
BIT of red slime algae. It does not grow much but diminishes very
slowly. SG .25 <I think you mean 1.025, right? I hope!>
Lights are 1 Phillips 36 w PL and one Philips 20W TL05 on for 10
and 12 hours respectively. Temp is 26 to 27 C Circulation is 20X
tank deflected off the tank back wall. Skimmer (air-stone driven)
is on 24/7 There are some photos of 2 items attached to this mail.
Sorry but the quality of the image is not very clear :( I seem to
have some saucer like algae? Is this Coralline or some sort of
macro algae? <It looks like Lobophora variegata. Please see
here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brnalgae.htm> It grows like
saucers on the live rock. Feels like a thin sheet of plastic would
(approx). It looks like there are some strands of sorts under this.
Remember when you cut okra (vegetable)? You might have seen similar
strands at the cut areas. I touched it (strands) and it did not
come off I think it is coralline because I can see some similar red
growths also on other rocks. <This could be something else.>
It is coralline or a form of macro algae? <It's algae. And
my guess would be Lobophora variegata. See here too:
http://www.coralreefnetwork.com/marlife/stepath/phaeophyta.html>
The other one is a photo of a coral. It is 2.5 to 3 inches in
diameter and peach/creamy in color. <I'm sorry but the photo
is too blurry for me to guess at what kind of coral you have
here.> The polyps have florescent yellow centers Is this a cup
coral? If so which genus? This coral used to have 13 polyps. I feed
it with red sea vitamin soaked krill and marine fish pieces. I make
sure the pieces are small enough to fit in the oral cavity before I
place them on each individual polyp. For some time it was good and
I even saw 3 new polyps sprout. Then all of a sudden it stopped
opening up. I had fed a krill with some bit of the Chiton intact.
Is that a problem? I had read in WWM that it is good protein and is
good for the corals. <Yes, chopped krill is a good food. But
I'd be able to help you more if I knew what kind of coral this
is. If you can, please send a clearer photo.> This coral is
fantastically hardy as it has survived many calamities before. Once
it went through 32 deg C for a few weeks at a length. <Sounds
like a Turbinaria.> I never ever fed it till I read an article
at WWM on LPS. Then I started to feed 2 times a week.
<excellent> I don't understand why all of a sudden it
stopped opening its polyps :( I did have an anemone. But this was
like overnight change. To night it eats well and tomorrow is stops
opening. All other inhabitants are fine. <Hmmm... strange. How
long has it been closed up? Sometimes corals close up for awhile
but come back in a few days.> I have removed the anemone and
given it away. <good> I have also changed it to lower light
levels for a few days. Did not find any change so kept it back in
the original place. <I doubt light is the issue here.> Any
idea how to get things back to normal? <It's hard for me to
say right now without being sure of what coral this is. If you can
send a better picture or get a better ID, I can help you more.>
Please help :(
Ranjith
<Best,
Sara M.> |
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New Print and
eBook on Amazon
Marine Aquarium Algae Control
by Robert (Bob) Fenner
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