Nuisance Algae ID

[thetedinator]

All,

It seems I am constantly battling some kind of algae. I got rid of my green hair algae problem only to then have a cyano outbreak in my sump and refugium. I finally get that under control and then this red/brown algae breaks out in my tank. I had one urchin in the tank which may have be keeping one area clear so I decided to add a couple more. We'll see....

Anyway, anyone recognize this stuff?

cya,

Ted

 

[Krish]

Never seen that one before so here's a bump! Good luck

 

[thetedinator]

More info....

Some patches are brown, some red and some are tan. It is only in the upper 1/2 of the tank.

System has been running for 20 months. Tank is bare bottom but I have a 240g sump/refugium on line with it. The refugium has a 5" DSB and a ball of chaetomorpha that would fill most of a 13g trash bag.

Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are undetectable. Alkalinity is 3.1 meq/L. Calcium is 310.

 

[steve-s]

Looks like turf algae. Is it short and bristly (turf), hard and spiky (branching coralline) or smooth and feathery (least likely but possibly bryopsis)

 

[thetedinator]

I hope it not bryopsis. Some of it is stiff and wiry and scrapes off in clumps. Some of it is not as stiff and is more wispy (the tan colored stuff).