Weird algae

[Scopas Tang]

i have this really weird brown algae in my tank. i dont have a picture of it yet cause my cord is busted. but it looks like its brown coraline algae. it grows the same way, in circle patches. it bumps up a little and is kinda fuzzy like diatomic algae. the weird thing is its only on certain rocks. the rocks where purchased at different places so it didnt come with a specific batch of rock. its growing very fast and is even out competing my coraline algae. its starting to bleach. snailes seem not to eat it nor crabs. i cant scrub it off, its tough! what it might have to do with is a recent discovery of my salt being too high for a very long time due to a P.O.S. Hydrometer reading incorectly. i was riding between .028-.030 for a few months! livestock was fine but not growing fast. which leads me to the topic of HYDROMETERS ARE JUNK. Get them tested with a Refractometer at yer LFS! My parimeters test

Salinity .023-.025
pH 8.3
Amo 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5ppm
alk 4.5 meq/l
calcium 440 ppm
Phosphates >1 ppm

I have 4x96 watt pc currrent orbit system (with stock bulbs). do u think it could be the orangey spectrum of the bulbs? cause i was thinking of switching out the 8700 for another 10k. i dunno, puzzles me. i have been looking for an answer for a while and cant find anyone who has had the same algae problem or knows what it is. ill get a picture of it in a couple of days.

i hope one of you reef wizards can dig an idea up.

thanks

[Samala]

Sounds like Lobophora sp. macroalgae. Brown, plating, circular usually in growth pattern, slightly fuzzy, appears on LR in tanks where herbivory is often low and N and P are not really any trouble - but your PO4 over 1ppm could really come down. Do you have a 'fuge? Hard to eradicate entirely.. if you post to the macro forum with the pic people who've had it could probably help more with suggestions for herbivores, etc.

See here (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=810891) for a pic.

>Sarah

[jim48442]

you should try a po4 reactor to lower it for you

[Scopas Tang]

Your right Samala! Thanks alot! when i meant about my po4 was it was LESS than 1ppm NOT more than. it was a typo by me. if it was higher that would be the first thing i try. but thanks for the advice though much apreciated!

i just recently got a Haw. Naso and its sweet!!! its already munchen down on that ugly brown stuff. ive also switched my bulbs out and got rid of most of my 6700k and 420 Actinic. imo, the 420 puts off too much redish color and the 6700 is too yellow and grows great algae

So with the Naso, Increased snail count of 65, and different color bulbs i think im gonna kick that stuff.

anybody wanna add it to their algae collection? J/k what a burdon

[Samala]

Scopas.. glad I could help. :) And.. you might be surprised who would be interested in that algae. There are a few macroalgae lovers in the Marine Plant forum who have been crazy enough to try in the past.

And yes, 6700k is a great color for algae/photosynthetic creatures, its all I use on my algae and seagrass tanks.

>Sarah

[cz80pj]

I had the same problem, but added Green Chromis to my reef tank and they cleared up the problem very fast. I like them becuase of their size and they tend to swim together.

[moses13]

Any follow up on your progress with the Naso? I have a lot of this stuff now in my tank, too and all my research points to either Naso or diadema urchin, neither of which I really want to put in my tank. But I've got probably 1/4 to 1/3 of my rocks covered with this stuff, and its starting to overgrow and smother some polyps, so I need to do something!

[Scopas Tang]

its been almost 2 weeks and the naso is doing an awsome job. He is definatly gaining on it. at his rate he probibly will be done in 2 1/2 months. i also got a Tuxedo Urchin. he moves accross it but seems not to wanna eat it. he was kinda an impulse buy/experiment.

Moses, i dont think we have the same stuff. mines alot like coraline. doesnt take over anything but rock,glass, plastic and pink coraline. if i was to guess. i think the aglae you have is "idontknowthis goodluckwiththis". sorry dude! hope youre lucky as me on your algae adventure

[jessiesgrrl]

Hmm, no algae probs for me since adding a UV sterilizer to the water flow coming out of my fuge. Killed off all bubble algae, cyano, etc. Didn't have this in the tank, but might be worth a try at least if it migrates by flotation to the new rocks... Ebay has some Jebo 13 watt brands for under $60 last I looked. It's a cheaper Asiatic brand that works well, imo.

Laurie

[ol'dude]

I may be wrong but doesn't a UV sterilizer defeat the purpose of a fuge?

[Manon]

Green Chromis make sense to me as well!! Did not realize it until somebody above mentionned it but I did not have any algea problems until about a couple of months ago. I used to have five chromis in my tank and they have all expired. last one about two months ago!!! Interesting. Manon