MacroAlgae Question...

[Prodd]

I have some dark green ear algae, and a small amount of cactus algae. All has been fine up untill recently when the algae has started to turn white in colour and fray on the tips. It looks like its dying. Can anyone shed some light on to why this is happening?
I have done nothing diffrent, all paramiters are fine. Although i havent checked magnesium levels.

Anyone?

Any help or opinions would be greatly aprieciated. Thanks.

[spw4949]

Is it in your main tank or a sump? What kind of lighting do you have on it?

[an411]

are you running any reactors? I had issues with phosphate reactors taking to much nutrients out of the water therefore couldn't keep macroalgae alive unless there was phosphates in the water.

[returnofsid]

Have no idea what "ear algae" is and am assuming your "cactus algae" is Halimeda.

Halimeda will go sexual on occasion, turning completely white. If you have enough of it in your tank, or a large enough clump of it, when it goes sexual, it'll completely cloud up your tank and freak you out!! But nothing to fear, it'll clear up in a few hours.

I've had it happen in both of my tanks several times. The first time it happened, I woke up to a completely cloudy tank and FREAKED OUT....lol. Several people suggested I remove it. Some even said it'd wipe out my tank. BUNK!!!

ONE person, whom I respect their advice, told me to leave it alone. It'll quickly dissolve into Aragonite sand. I listened to this one. Sure enough, it cleared up in a few hours and over a period of about a week, slowly dissolved.

I really like the look of Halimeda and have it in several places in both tanks. I have small and large leaf halimeda. At times, I do have to prune it back.

It was also suggested to me that it'll only go sexual if there's enough of it in an area to create a "critical mass." I don't know about this theory, other than, when mine's gone sexual, it has always been the largest clump in the tanks.

[otisforme]

i always heard this was due to too low of calcium what is your calcium testing at?

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13658880#post13658880 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by otisforme
i always heard this was due to too low of calcium what is your calcium testing at?

Halimeda macro will suck up alot of calcium from the water but I have never heard of it going sexual because of lack of it.
Usually going sexual is due to changes in light intensity and or spectrum.
when was the last time you changed out your lighting?

[Prodd]

The setup has a total volume of around 800 gal and has 1 sump feeding several display tanks, the display tank containing the algae has only t8 tubes that were changed around 6-7 months ago. Calcium levels are on the mark at 420ppm. With water changes are carried out every 3-4 days i didn't expect the calcium levels to be the problem. However i will test every day for the next week to see if the drop suddenly.
The lighting issue interests me though, is it possible the light units are degrading early? I understand all electronic equipment (not just aquarium gear) can fail unexpectedly, i will see if i can get the lights changed over (this system is at work and with the current economic climate the company isn't too interested in spending on fish tanks). Otherwise in the meantime, can anyone think of anything else i should check for?

Thanks for all your input.

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13667268#post13667268 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Prodd
The setup has a total volume of around 800 gal and has 1 sump feeding several display tanks, the display tank containing the algae has only t8 tubes that were changed around 6-7 months ago. Calcium levels are on the mark at 420ppm. With water changes are carried out every 3-4 days i didn't expect the calcium levels to be the problem. However i will test every day for the next week to see if the drop suddenly.
The lighting issue interests me though, is it possible the light units are degrading early? I understand all electronic equipment (not just aquarium gear) can fail unexpectedly, i will see if i can get the lights changed over (this system is at work and with the current economic climate the company isn't too interested in spending on fish tanks). Otherwise in the meantime, can anyone think of anything else i should check for?

Thanks for all your input.

lights degrade slowly over time---reducing in both penetration and wavelength.
the attinics pale out and the halides reduce in the white colour to a yellow colour.
To my knowledge(not extensive in lighting by any means) the lower spectrum tends to encourage the growth of algae--not discourage it.
However it does affect the growth of corraline as it does other corals so it always best to change out the bulbs anywhere between 9 months and a year(depending on the photoperiod you have setup)

[Aquarist007]

I tried to grow Halimedia in my tank a couple of years ago. It did the same thing as your--I think it absorbs so much calcium from the water that it "whitens" It also attracts alot of other debris.
Unless I had a macro aglae tank I wouldn't bother with it again.
the fish won't eat it because it is so bitter.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r107/reefescapetangster/IMG_4107.jpg


you can see it starting to whiten here in the pictures:
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r107/reefescapetangster/halimeda1.jpg

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r107/reefescapetangster/halimeda.jpg