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help with identification please

H

harryk

hello all,

I have this ugly brown hairy looking stuff growing all over the live rock in my tank. it's hard to scrape off and it's got little white hairs on it. I'm thinking it's some type of algae but i'm not sure. First an ID would be great and then if anyone can tell me how to get rid of it that would be great. I introduced it via a piece of coral i received. I didn't think much of it at the time but now it's a PITA. any help would be greatly appreciated. Pic is below, i hope it's clear enough

thanks
Harry

IMG_2684.jpg
 
J

john90009

NJRC Member
Its brown waffer algea- a few emerald crabs will take care of it - thats what is taking care of mine- once they learn its there and they are strong enough to peel the slipper film off the rock they should clear it off.
 
J

john90009

NJRC Member
oh - well just to say thats probably the only thing that will take it off- i have the crap in my tank- i bought 3 emerald crabs that are picking it off right now- they havent been picking at my corals yet- hopefully they dont.
 
mfisher2112

mfisher2112

If it helps at all, I've had emeralds in just about every tank I've had. Never had an issue with them picking at corals. Only rocks. Even had one that used to come out at feeding time and "evil canevil" off of a rock ledge to grab falling pieces of squid and shrimp. Was funny as anything to watch.
 
J

john90009

NJRC Member
only crab that i ever had that does damage is my 3 blue knuckle hermits- which is good damage they frag stuff for me and decorate. As long as you dont buy a crab thats labeled as a green emerald crab and looks like a giant fuzzy gorilla hah i think you should be fine.
 
H

harryk

i can't believe how fast this algae has grown, i wish there was another faster way to kill it, i'd really hate to remove the rocks and cook them
 
mfisher2112

mfisher2112

Hey Harry, sorry to hear about your algae outbreak. But it might be best if you explore potential roots to the outbreak.

For instance, how are your nutrient levels? Lighting period? How's your water change regiment? Using RO/DI? Tap water?

Those kinds of things.

"Treat the illness, not the symptoms" so-to-speak.

Maybe we can help if you post some more info about your tank, equipment, test results, etc.
 
J

john90009

NJRC Member
I have the algae growing and no other algae grows in my tank- my phosphates are uber low and everything else is zero- i have the algae in my tank and as long as theres a tiny piece of it somewhere in a rock its going to grow as long as it gets light. Even if the nutrients were so low i bet this junk would still grow- keep looking into the emerald crabs mine love the stuff.
 
G

gogol

... Why is this algae bad ?? Is it beacause it is harming an inhabitant, or because it because it is unsightly and reefing norms/vanity say that you mustn't have it ??... It is surprising how poeple would proudly maintain their GSP colonies and pay money for hermit crabs but take the axe to hair algae. You are building an eco system, and all of a sudden this has become a part of it... perhaps even consuming stuff that if not consumed might actually cause serious harm... is that necessarily bad?

My philosophy is .. if it isnt harming your tank inhabitants or causing the tank to look like the backside of a chimpanzee then let it be. What you have is a part of nature, and has started to thrive because it consumes some nutrients for which there was minimal competition. Would you seriously consider introducing another foreigner (an emerald crab in this case) to take care of this, even knowing that there is a higher potential of that disrupting the balance in your tank? Mfisher's approach was better, but in an attempt at stifling the nutrient supply (change of water source/salt/ filter media) you might cause unintended changes to the system as well...

Dont be disgusted at my boorish ways, ... I am just lamenting aloud because running a carbon and phosban filter killed my all my hitchhiker jellyfishes.
 
G

gogol

...ooh thats a bad one ... thanks for the education john90009. What causes it to thrive though? The usual suspects seem to be out since harryk has pretty clean water.
 
J

john90009

NJRC Member
I know its an algae which means in uses the nutrients in the tank to grow but even if the tank is really low nutrients probably like a zeo vite tank i bet it will still grow- it might not be dark brown and red but it will still grow. I have piece sitting in my refugium on the bottom- my cheatomorpha cuts out all the light to the bottom but this tiny piece is still growing and it swirls like a monti cap so some people keep it- but when it starts wanting to take over the rock its very hard to get it off only way is manually scrubbing the rock which there will always be one tiny piece left for it to grow from and you have the same issue all over again. Im not saying im a genuis im just someone who has the problem and figured out that emerald crabs are the old thing that will surly go after it- my yellow tang tried to rip it off the rocks from now and them but hes not strong enough his mouth seems to slip right off of it.
 
M

Mbodell

You might want to try the hydrogen peroxide method in the new c the journal. It worked great for me on my red hair algae. I would think it would work well on that algae as well. I just squirted the rocks with straight hydrogen peroxide and then dipped the rock in fresh salt water before returning them to the tank. The algae died off in 2 days.
 
H

harryk

I use RO water, no hair algae, no diatoms, i done have an issue with water quality. I know this type of algae is part of nature, that's not my issue, so one shouldn't assume to know why i have an issue with it, I don't have any issue with any algae in moderation, i just don't want it all over my tank, if it was only a little bit no issue i could live with that, but all over my tank is a bit much and unsightly for my taste. Coralline algae can't even grow because this overtakes it, it's hard like coralline algae just not smooth like it.

thanks
Harry
 
H

harryk

Oh and i do have the Brown plating coralline algae in one small spot and i don't have an issue with it, I actually like it. this other stuff is hairy and hard it's not the plating kind
 
G

gogol

if it was only a little bit no issue i could live with that, but all over my tank is a bit much and unsightly for my taste.
Click to expand...
... which makes you somewhat of an interfering god of little things doesnt it?

..Please dont mind me, I have a steady position that we understand the complexities of nature much less than we care to confess and thus am in favour of natural selection taking its course in my tank... Sure its a little unsightly, but I have heard of very few tanks where the acans have their tentacles out and are eating when the halides are on 8)
 
J

john90009

NJRC Member
i have the brown plating on in my refugium - i like that one but for some reason my tang likes to eat it when it goes into the top tank. The encrusting one with white fuzzes on it will take over your rock very quickly. try going to a fish store that sells emerald crabs and see if they can place any corals int he tank to see if he will go after them- i doubt he will harm the coral mine never did. And i doubt the emerald crabs will ever be hungry because you have a nice amount of the waffer algea i have 3 in my tank and they have been working on a 4 inch square for a month and its almost gone.
 
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