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Chibils
04/28/2008, 10:43 PM
I have three species of unidentified algae growing in my dt. Number two I believe is Bryopsis sp., but for all I know it might be filamentous hair algae.
Pictures are taken with a Nikon D70 DSLR camera and Reeflux 12000ks.

UID spp. #1:
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/8305/200804280287bj4.th.jpg (http://img254.imageshack.us/my.php?image=200804280287bj4.jpg)
Taken with a macro lens (Nikkor AF 18-70mm).
http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/5008/200804280293dh8.th.jpg (http://img337.imageshack.us/my.php?image=200804280293dh8.jpg)
Taken with Tamron AF-S Tele-macro. Close-up on the leaves from ~3', full zoom.
This plant reminds me of 2D cacti; under my old lights, it was tan.

UID spp. #2:
http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/3523/200804280301jt4.th.jpg (http://img148.imageshack.us/my.php?image=200804280301jt4.jpg)
Telephoto. Note the feathery fronds. Reminiscent of palm trees; it's right under a K4, so it's hard to get a good shot. UID spp. #1 is starting to take over here.
http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/2813/200804280306sk7.th.jpg (http://img248.imageshack.us/my.php?image=200804280306sk7.jpg)
Similar picture, with a little better detail view on the fronds themselves. Still blurry. :(

UID spp. #3 (grape caulerpa?):
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/917/200804280311qt8.th.jpg (http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=200804280311qt8.jpg)
These are the "leaves." They grow on a runner root system analogous to terrestrial plants.
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/9302/200804280327ai0.th.jpg (http://img293.imageshack.us/my.php?image=200804280327ai0.jpg)
Runners growing out from under the rocks.

Chibils
04/28/2008, 11:08 PM
#1 is pliable and fleshy yet firm. The "leaves" are roughly the size of dimes, maybe a bit smaller. My rock is from Tonga (Pacific East Aquaculture - Tonga Nukku) and a bit of Fiji (also from Dr. Mac).

#2 is soft, very soft. The fronds are odd; some are short, others grow on "ropes" into the current. It grows quickly, pops up in patches, and subsides.

#3 is fleshy, and seems to grow about 4-6" per frond, very densely. It grows very quickly; it appeared about a month ago, and now has four runners growing densely. One is about 15", one about 4", one about 3".

lulaface
04/29/2008, 12:25 AM
The first I've seen but can't remember the name of. The second is bryopsis. The third is the large variety of grape caulerpa. I have that one. I love it because it is fairly controllable as caulerpas go.

lulaface
04/29/2008, 12:33 AM
found it. the first is a type of turbinaria. very cool. want to send me some?

Chibils
04/29/2008, 10:27 AM
I like it, but I'd be glad to send you any trimmings if someone has a good guide to propagating it (or even just "cut here and ship it").

In other news, is bryopsis bad as long as it's not choking out corals? It gets a nice deep forest green with blue highlights under my lights and growth has been significantly slowed under the 12,000k spectrum. It's easy to remove and grows back, but not excessively.

Logzor
04/29/2008, 12:39 PM
I believe that fist time is dictyota. Do a google search on this species.

If it is dictyota it can spread rather quickly...

piercho
04/29/2008, 01:05 PM
#1 Could be Turbinaria. Turbinaria can have a similar form, and the dark spots are characteristic. Not Dictyota, IMO. Dictyota has a characteristic of Y-branch blades.
#2 Bryopsis. Identifying characteristics are filamented green algae with fern-like or comb-like blades. This can be a difficult algae to control.
#3 Caulerpa, maybe racemosa/peltata species, often called grape Caulerpa. This form of Caulerpa can be difficult to control.

bluenassarius
04/29/2008, 03:29 PM
howard nailed it well. turbinaria is desirable. i can't say the same for the others..