She's Seeing RED (Algae, That is!) - 10/18/06
Hello,
<Hi there! Scott F. here today!>
I'm not sure where about to begin!
I have 120 gallon marine aquarium, full with live rock and various soft corals.  My fish are 1 Yellow Tang, 2 Clowns, 1 Pink-Spotted blenny (I love him). 2 Chalk Gobies, 1 Mandarin, 1 Flame Angel, 2 Chromis, 2 Blue Damsels, 1 Cleaner Shrimp, 20 plus blue hermits, 20 plus Turbos and a couple of Nassarius snails (haven't seen them for a while)!
<Nice mix of animals!>
I've been struggling with algae blooms.  The Nitrate level is less than 20mg and Nitrite is less than 0.1mg.  The Phosphates aren't 0, but they are less than 0.25mg.  I'm beginning to think the lights are incorrect.
<Well, lights alone are not causing your nuisance large problem. Lighting plus nutrients equals algae growth.>
The reason I am mailing you (finally getting to the point) is the remaining green hair algae has begun to grow red.  Its not slimy, its not hairy like the green algae, it looks like a blanket of algae or furry.  I've been removing it, but last time to we pulled it up some small remains must have spread.  Within 1 week, we have  a small blanket of the stuff over a rock.  It grows very fast.
<Sounds like the dreaded Cyanobacteria, or some other nuisance algae.>
I don't really want to add anything to kill it, incase it kills my snails and crew, but I did look and LFS don't seem to sell anything to remove it unless you keep freshwater.
<You don't want to use any "quick fix" products. With a few husbandry adjustments, you can beat it naturally!>
I'm going to remove it again later, but everything I read, either is about red coralline, Cyanobacteria /slime algae, its not coralline and its not slimy.
<Hmm...>
The fish and corals all seem to be great, I have red coralline algae the live rock.  I don't want to turn the lights out, as I don't want to kill my coral.  I'm stuck.
<Not really.>
I have checked your forums too, but can't seem to find anything.  Please can you help.
Thanks
Lindsey
<Well, Lindsey, without a photo, an ID of the algae would be really tough. There are literally thousands of suspects! With most nuisance algae, the problem is generally caused by excesses of nutrients somewhere in the system. Your phosphate level is of concern. Phosphates accumulate from food. The associated packing juices from frozen foods, and uneaten foods can contribute. My first recommendation is to feed very carefully, not allowing any excess foods to accumulate. In addition, you should embrace a schedule of regular small water changes with high quality source water (RO/DI), employ chemical filtration media, such as activated carbon or Poly Filter, and use a good protein skimmer, adjusted to produce skimmate daily. Maintain a stable, high pH and alkalinity, and keep good water movement in the system. Persistent good husbandry will see this nuisance algae bloom out. It doesn't happen overnight, but steady work on your part will do the trick. I hope that these ideas will give you some food for thought to look into the root causes of the algae problem. Best of luck to you! Regards, Scott F.>

Identification Question  10/15/06
Hello!
<Hello.>
I have a hopefully quick question for you concerning identification of some seemingly odd growths in my nano-reef.  The tank itself is a pleasant little 7gal with a various assortment of soft corals.  Here's where the issue comes to light.  I've had the tank up for a year and a half and have been very happy with it.  However, in the past view weeks I've noticed some odd purple/reddish-brown bulbous growths that seem to grow exclusively near my green metallic mushrooms.  I would almost go so far as to say that they appear to be filled with air....rather odd.  They do not, at this point, appear to be harming anything.  I tried searching through your site to shed some light on this before sending out this email, but honestly, I wasn't quite sure where to start.  I've attached a very rough picture (best I could do with the materials at hand) of the growths.
Thanks for your help!
Jacob
<I'll be honest, it's really hard to tell from this picture... I'm going to guess, based on your description, that this is Cyanobacteria - Blue/Green Algae. More to read on this here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/bluegralgae.htm
Cheers, J -- >

Is Diatoms, Not Detritus - 09/02/06
Hello there,
<<Hi!>>
I have a question that I asked my local "fish guy" and he answered the best he could but for some reason I have a feeling that his advice isn't working.
<<Ok>>
I have a 50 gal SW tank and everything has been awesome for about 6 months.  Now, I am seeing huge amounts of algae growth.  I know
that the coralline algae is a good thing so I don't mess with that, and even some of the green algae can be desirable, correct?
<<Indeed...>>
But, my problem is not with those two things, I have an outbreak of this brown (copper-colored) algae all over my sand and some of my glass!
<<Sounds like diatoms...do have a good read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/diatomfaqs.htm >>
My fish guy asked if anything had died in there and I told him no.
<<Are you filtering the your make-up/top-off water?>>
His thought about it was that it was detritus?
<<Nope>>
He gave me some pouch to put in filter but that doesn't seem to be working either.  I just don't get it, I have good water quality and nothing has ever died...I need help figuring out what it is so I can do something about it.  HELP!
<<If you aren't filtering your water, consider getting an RO/DI unit...if you are filtering your water, check/replace the membranes/DI cartridge.  You can also try adding some bio-turbators (Cerith snails work well) for your substrate and add some Poly-Filter to your tank filter flow path>>
Krysti
<<Regards, EricR>>
 

Some Feedback and a Question   8/8/06 Hi Guys (and girls), <Chris> Firstly just some good news feedback. About 6 months ago my new reef tank was started. The WWM crew has really helped me a lot in identifying issues with my previously failed marine tank (especially Dr Fenner), and also with advice on the setup of the new one. I am proud to say that things seem to be well on track - the tank went through some horrible phases with diatoms, followed by various types of green algae, but finally this has all disappeared and I am proud to say that I now see various types of red and pink coralline algae starting to cover the live rock, with no nasty algae in sight. The main tank is about 150gallons in size, I have T5 lighting only with soft corals, only a few fish (yellow tang, coral beauty, niger trigger, sixline wrasse), some inverts and all seems to be healthy and doing well. Thanks again for all the help so far. at the moment I am really positive about the tank and it is largely due to your support. <Good> The one question I have is about supplements. Initially when I had an algae bloom I did a lot of reading about it and decided to stop adding any supplements, because frankly I was just pouring stuff in without knowing the impact, <Very common situation> except for my calcium reactor which is still running. For the last couple of months all I have been adding to the system is the following: 1. Monitor PH and KH closely and buffer top-up water to keep this constant. 2. Monitor calcium closely and dose a bit to keep it around 360-400. (Still trying to figure if calcium reactor is working properly, because calcium still seems to drop a bit every week). I have added nothing else to the tank at all for months. I am a little confused about whether I should start adding any supplements as I continue to add more corals to the tank. The LFS will tell you to dose Magnesium, Strontium etc. but I am not comfortable adding anything to the tank unless I have a test kit to monitor the values precisely. The general feeling I get when reading the FAQ's is that its probably better to not add any supplements and focus more on regular water changes to add new elements, but I would like your opinion on this anyway if its ok. <Bingo... this is my position... Don't add anything unless you are testing for it... know it to be deficient... Many chemicals have antagonistic and/or synergistic effects with others...> Then just one other question - there seem to be patches of red coralline algae growing on the substrate itself. is this normal ? <Happens, yes> (I'm pretty sure I can identify it as coralline algae). And lastly, can you perhaps identify the interesting looking 'thing' that is growing out of my live rock ? <Appears to be a type of Brown Algae... of the genus Padina. Please see here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brnalgae.htm> Thanks and sorry for the long email. Chris Cronje <No worries. Bob Fenner>

Algae ID...I think...   8/8/06 Good afternoon crew! <Trying to wake up here...> Again, thanks for ALL of your help!!  I know it has helped me maintain a healthy and happy marine aquarium. <Ah, good> My question pertains to the "pic of the day" for 8/6, "Don't you wish we had real live rock."  There is a algae/coral/fungus in the middle of that pic....a burnt orange/red in color, in a circular formation.  Can anyone tell me what that is? <Oh... think this is the 8/6 pic... and looks like the coralline Peyssonnelia. Please see here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/corallinealg.htm and the linked files above... Or use the search tool with the genus name...> I have an abundance of it on one of my LR.  I am assuming it is an algae of some type, just not sure which. Regards, Jeff <A beneficial... and good looking organism. Bob Fenner>

Saltwater ID   8/1/06 Hello, use your site for reference all the time, thanks!    <Welcome>   I am wondering what this is. I assumed it was algae, but have not been able to ID it anywhere. Though I saw it on you site, but not sure. It is growing rapidly and I would like to either trim it or move it.   Thanks <Is a beautiful photo and specimen of a Rhodophyte... likely a Fauchea species: http://search.msn.com/images/results.aspx?FORM=IRRE&q=fauchea and on WWM: http://wetwebmedia.com/redalgae.htm Can be trimmed, cut, pulled... Thank you for sharing. Bob Fenner>

Unidentified Growth (Sargassum polyphyllum?) - 04/29/06 Dear WWM Crew, <<Greetings Kym>> Thank you so much for providing such a wonderful resource.  I have truly enjoyed the untold hours that I have spent reading and rereading through the many articles and FAQ's posted on your website.  The wealth of knowledge contained here is just amazing. <<Indeed, much here (there) for the finding...happy you find the researching enjoyable>> My question, today, pertains to an unidentified growth in my 90 gallon reef tank.  I have checked through the website and through numerous books, as well, and have not been able to determine what it is.  I believe that it is some type of algae or plant. <<Me too>> It began growing out of my colony of green button polyps.  It is attached to the rock and has grown very quickly.  It is a single piece, brown and flat with a slight curl at the edges.  It has extended outward in very wide fingerlike protrusions and has small white bumps sparsely and erratically scattered across the surface and along the edges.  The feel is somewhat rubbery. <<Describes as/looks like a Sargassum, possibly Sargassum polyphyllum>> I have noticed, as it has grown larger, that my polyps have been declining. <<The algae is likely just shadowing/brushing across...>> I'm wondering if, perhaps, it is exuding something toxic. <<A possibility...algae compete for space just as corals, fish, all marine life>> Would you please examine the pictures that I have attached and see if you can identify the growth and tell me if it is something that I should completely remove from my tank? <<It's not going to "nuke" your tank, but if it looks like it is beginning to decline/decompose you’ll want to remove it...and if you don't like the effect it is having on your button polyps then by all means, pull it out now <grin> >> Thank You, Kym <<Quite welcome.  Regards, EricR>>