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FAQs on Marine Algae Identification
Related Articles: 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:
FAQ ID Visual Guide ,
Marine Algae ID 1, Marine Algae ID 2,
Marine Algae ID 3,
Marine Algae ID 4, Marine
Algae ID 5,
Marine Algae ID 6, Marine
Algae ID 7, Marine Algae ID 8,
Marine Algae ID 9, Marine Algae ID
10, Marine Algae ID 11,
Marine Algae ID 12, Marine Algae ID
13, Marine Algae ID 14,
Marine Algae ID 15, Marine Algae ID 16,
Marine Algae ID 17, Marine Algae ID 18, Marine
Algae ID 19, Marine Algae ID 21,
Marine Algae ID 22, Marine Algae ID 23,
Marine Algae ID 24, Marine Algae ID,
25, & Marine Algae Control FAQs 2,
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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Fungus Growing In Tank, colonial hydroids? 01/30/2008
Hi Sara
M. -
Thanks for the reply. I wasn't sure I could get any decent
pictures of the fuzz, but took a few which I have attached. The
first three are of the rock as it currently looks with the white,
fuzzy slime growing on it. The 4th picture is of the rock when I
first got it. I'm so disappointed since it looks like it had some
color back then, with the promise of maybe some coralline algae to
grow. Now, it just looks slimy. I changed out the crushed coral
substrate since it had a mat of greenish slime growing over the top
of it, that just got worse. I was doing water changes just so I
could vacuum it off the substrate, which didn't work well since it
was stuck to it.
<I've had this stuff too. I could be wrong, but
I think it's some kind of colonial hydroid. I got rid of it by
continually scrubbing it off with a tooth brush, doing water
changes, etc.>
Take a look at my pictures and see what you think.
I looked up some hydroids and the pictures I found look like
something that gets tall, and branches out. This just looks like a
fuzzy slime. Thanks so much for your help.
<Right, but there are
lots of different types of these things. This is just my best
guess.>
Kim
<Good luck,
Sara M.>
Hi again Sara M - 01/30/2008
I just stirred the patch of
oolitic sand I put in the tank about 2 weeks ago, and found that the
top is starting to crust over.
<Hmm... this looks like a
separate problem. When sand clumps, it's usually because of
bacterial secretions that "pool" in sand that's too stagnant. This
is a sign that you need more benthic life/diversity. You need more
worms, micro-crustaceans, etc. to "stir" the sand.>
I'm sending
you a shot of that, plus what the back of the tank looks like. Half
of the tank is sand and the other half is mostly bare. The oolitic
is so fine, that when it floats around the tank, it just sticks to
the slime and makes a worse mess.
<I'd suggest getting some live
seeder sand and/or some such "starter packs" of critters for deep
sand beds.>
Kim
<Best,
Sara M.> | 
An algal, plus mess. RMF.
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Algae ID. BGAs plus... reading – 1/26/08
Hi everyone, I was
wondering if you could help me out. I bought some L.R. from Tonga,
absolutely beautiful stuff. When I got it home, I gave it a good
scrubbing,
<Mmm, best not to "scrub too much">
and used it
cycle my new 75gal. This rock looked so good, sitting on top of my
D.S.B. (thanks for the DSB idea, just now really beginning to work
:-)) covered with multiple colors of coralline algae, and a little,
tiny, itty-bitty patch of dying/dead (or so I thought) fuzz. I bet
you can't guess what happened after I put in the fish in, increasing
the nutrient load, and fired up the T-5?s can you? :-) BOOM I have
putting green, spreading like a wildfire that would make the boy's
at Augusta jealous!
<Oh! A sports reference?>
I'm in the
process of buying a Remora, and a RO/DI unit to help reduce the
nutrient load.
<Will help for sure>
The problem I'm having is
identifying exactly what type of algae it is. I was pretty sure it
was Bryopsis, and was considering raising the Mag. Level up to
1500-1600, and burn this stuff too death,
<Mmm, this won't do
it>
if reducing the bio-load/reducing amount of light didn't
work. That was the plan until I seen an image of what a person was
calling Bryopsis. Their image looked much more ?Fern-Like?. The
stuff I have is shorter ¼-1? in height, dense, and very thin,
hair-like stuff. Here are a few Images, sorry their blurry, but so
was my vision when I took them!! (Ahhaahaahaa)
Thanks for your
help, Pat
http://s217.photobucket.com/albums/cc129/Pat_H/?action=view
<http://s217.photobucket.com/albums/cc129/Pat_H/?action=view¤t=DSC0117
4.jpg> ¤t=DSC01174.jpg
http://s217.photobucket.com/albums/cc129/Pat_H/?action=view
<http://s217.photobucket.com/albums/cc129/Pat_H/?action=view¤t=DSC0117
5.jpg> ¤t=DSC01175.jpg
http://s217.photobucket.com/albums/cc129/Pat_H/?action=view
<http://s217.photobucket.com/albums/cc129/Pat_H/?action=view¤t=DSC0117
6.jpg> ¤t=DSC01176.jpg
http://s217.photobucket.com/albums/cc129/Pat_H/?action=view
<http://s217.photobucket.com/albums/cc129/Pat_H/?action=view¤t=DSC0117
2.jpg> ¤t=DSC01172.jpg
Here's what it looked like before
the ?Outbreak?
http://s217.photobucket.com/albums/cc129/Pat_H/?action=view
<http://s217.photobucket.com/albums/cc129/Pat_H/?action=view¤t=New75ga
lTongaLRDSB004.jpg> ¤t=New75galTongaLRDSB004.jpg
<Is
likely a mix of algal "groups" (Divisions), but mostly BGAs...
Blue-Greens... Read here re: http://wetwebmedia.com/maralgae.htm
and the files linked above, elsewhere, where you lead yourself...
Bob Fenner> |
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Bryopsis, Derbesia? 01/22/2008
Hey Crew, I was wondering if you
can help me identify some algae growing on live rock in my tank. It
seems to be growing on only one piece of rock and I actually think it
looks pretty cool. I just wanted to know if it's bad for my tank. It
seems to be spreading very slowly. No one in the tank seem to eat the
algae except for some worms who live in rock, they come out at night and
pick at it. Enclosed is a picture. Thanks for your help. - Joe
<See
the above genera... on WWM, the Net, books... Bob Fenner> | 
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Weird Thing Growing in Tank: Bubble Algae - 1/21/08
Hi,
<Hi
there, Maleyna!>
The pictures are of a weird egg/bubble growing in my
tank. I have no idea what the heck it is. I'm thinking of putting it in
the sump because 1) I don't know what it is going to grow into and 2) If
it does grow into something it looks pretty big and I don't want it to
harm any of the fish or soft coral we have in the tank.
<No worries
there. What you’re seeing is Bubble Algae, likely Valonia/Ventricaria
ventricosa. I would manually remove. Just be careful not to
puncture/burst the cell(s), as the spores inside could cause it to
spread. There's a wealth of information on this topic at WWM. Please
Google the terms: Bubble Algae, Valonia, or Ventricaria:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/question_page.htm
Here’s an additional link as well:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-02/hcj/feature/index.php .>
Here are some pictures of the tank
http://picasaweb.google.com/maleyna>here.<http://picasaweb.google.com/maleyna
<Thanks! I Wish I could see them, but unfortunately, I keep getting an
error message.>
It's about 8 months along and is my husband's pride
and joy, I just don't want to be the one to tell him something ate
everything else while he was deployed. Anything you can tell me would be
helpful.
<Again, no worries. If you had a massive amount of these
“bubbles”, I’d be concerned about your nutrient levels, but an
occasional one here and there is no biggie. Just carefully dislodge and
dispose.>
Thanks,
Maleyna
<You’re very welcome! Take care
–Lynn> |  
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Unidentified water objects -algae IDs 01/14/08
Can someone please
help me identify this plant life. I am a NOVICE at saltwater aquariums
and these both came on the live rock that I purchased. But it would be
really nice to know what they are.
<The brown one looks like Padina
sp. algae, please see here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brnalgfaqs.htm
The red one looks like some kind of Fauchea sp. algae, but I'm not sure.
Please see here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/redalgae.htm>
Tam'e
<Best,
Sara M.> | Re:
the first pic: Mmm, looks like lobophora to me... M
<Me too...
will add your comment. RMF> |  
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Purple Seaweed ID... Dictyota 1/10/08
Hi Michelle
<Hi
Andrew>
Thank you so much for your reply, it was most helpful.
<You are most welcome!>
No wonder I couldn't find it using a
description of "purple seaweed"!
<Heehee! Nope!>
As noxious as
this weed seems to be, in the confines of the small tank I placed it in.
It could have become a beautiful display,
<Yes, so long as you’re
aware of the potential problem.>
but alas, it was all consumed (by
what I don't know)
<A shame, would be good to know what found it
tasty!>
within just a few days of placing it in the tank.
<Quick!>
I guess these things have a way of working themselves out!
<Indeed.>
Take care.
<And you as well. Mich>
Andrew
Marine Tank Strange Purple Moss -01/05/08
Hello WWW Crew people!
I have a question regarding this strange purple moss that has been
growing on portions of my live rock the last few months. My nitrates are
below 20 ppm, but I do have a heavier tank load than normal. When it
first showed up I thought it was coralline algae, but as it spread it
got thicker. It doesn't have a coarse texture like other macro algae
(maiden's hair, etc.) but it doesn't seem to be slime. It looks like it
grows more on places where there's a little more water flow and it is
more prominent on the branch live rock I have. It is almost non-existent
on the regular live rock. It doesn't scrape off easily and I noticed
that at night the algae either disappears into the rock or shrinks.
<That's weird. Unfortunately, the photos just aren't clear enough for me
to even make much of a guess at this point. It might be some kind of
sponge or something else.>
Do you guys know what this stuff is or if
it's bad for the tank?
<It's hard to say from your description
alone. Please do send better pictures (if you can get them).>
I have
a picture attached. Thanks for your help!
<De nada,
Sara M.>
Re: Marine Tank Strange Purple Moss -01/05/08
Thanks for the
response!
I decided to do a little more research on your website and
it's looking like colored blue-green Cyano algae (I saw some pictures
other people took and posted and it looks very similar).
<Ok,
congrats on figuring it out.>
I'll follow the advice of what you guys
have on the site on how to try and get rid of it. Thanks for the help
and sorry I didn't do enough research on the site before asking my
question!
<No worries :-)
Best,
Sara M.>
ID of New Life 1/5/08
Hello
Thank you for all the
wonderful help.
<Welcome>
I have 2 new life forms that have
hitched a ride on my live rock - can you
identify the orange
organisms in the attached? I'm at a loss, although I
suspect the
one in the background is some sort of algae.
<They are both
algae... the one in the front is a Brown, Lobophora... the rear a
Red... Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/redalgae.htm>
Much appreciated.
Cheers
Brenda
<Welcome. Bob Fenner> | 
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Red hairy algae, cont. -12/22/2007
Hi Bob,
<Sihaya
here>
I had my SPS tan running for a year. Lately, a few patches of
red hairy algae have started to spread. I have spotted them at the
overflow boxes first and then started over the live rocks. I have a few
Mexican snails but I was wondering of adding a sea hare. What do you
think ?
<What kind of algae is this? Would you please send in a
picture? Or, better yet, please browse the marine algae ID pages so that
you might better narrow down the ID. Does it look like any of these?
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/maralgidfaq6.htm
or these?
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/maralgidfaq12.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/maralgidfaq9.htm>
Thanks
Ramy Toronto,
Canada
<Best,
Sara M.>
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