Algae ID: What is it and how to attack?

[tacoshooter]

I've been out of the marine aquarium hobby for a few years, and am getting back in. My tank's been up for a month and I've just added the first CUC members -- a couple of turbo snails and hermit crabs. They've been doing a good job on knocking out the brown algae but I have a type of tiny, green grasslike algae that seems to be spreading and no one wants to touch it.

Here's a pic of the piece of LR where I believe it started:



Click here for a larger image

And a pic of the rock it has spread to:



Click here for a larger image

It's also beginning to cover my glass, but I'm afraid to get too aggressive with getting it out lest I cause it to spread more. I did a search and it doesn't seem to be either hair algae or bryopsis; those two algaes seemed more complex and this is really just like small tufts of bright green grass.

My tank is a 29G with a coralife skimmer and a canister filter running nothing but carbon. Additional flow is from a MJ 1200 powerhead.

I have a UV currently running 24/7 on the filter loop.

Lights are 110W worth of CF, one 55W actinic and one 55W 10k. I only run them six hours a day right now since there's nothing but a small CUC in the tank.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[mmgm]

Welcome to Reef Central.....

Since your tank is only about a month old I would try cutting down on the light...... Aside from cleaner crew cutting down lights are very effective at slowing down algae growth.

Did you use RO/DI water when setting up the tank?

Also, if you are cycled you may consider purchasing a grazer to help control until your tank stabalizes....... A Blenny or Foxface may help out for now....

If this does not run it's course there are other options but too soon to take any other actions since your only a month old.....

Enjoy.....

[tacoshooter]

Thanks for the reply.

I may have to look at cutting down the light, although the tank's not much to look at without the bulbs on, obviously.

I've used RO/DI water since day one; it's never had an ounce of tap in it. All of the prefilters and the membrane are in tip-top shape.

[Avi]

Well, some algae of that kind isn't very unusual in a newly set-up reef and it may just burn out in the process of the tank's stabalizing, but that doesn't mean that it isn't something to be concerned about as you are. There are lots of measures that can be taken to deal with this. The addition of "cleanup critters" is one of them but that's cosmetic more than anything else and they may not even take that kind of algae, so it isn't the end of the effort.

It occurs to me that you don't mention anything about testing various water issues...most notably nitrates, phosphates, but also alkalinity which may well be relevant to an algae issue as well. But nitrates and phosphates are something to test for which are specifically connected with the nourishment that the micro-algae you're concerned with would require to photosynthesize and flourish.

A newly set-up reef with its addition of live rock and the inevitable die-off associated with even "cured" live rock will promote both nitrate and phosphate elevations. That's why micro-algaes are often capable of taking advantage of that stage in the process, and that's precisely where you appear to be right now, with these consequences.

Using a good protein skimmer is one of the most significant things, IMO, that you can and should do. I have no experience with the one that you mention but I know that they are popular, so maybe that's a good sign. Look around these forums to see if the kind of results that you're getting are consistent with effective skimming.

Don't expect too much help from the UV strerilizer. I have one going on my sump, so I don't mean to rag on them. But, the truth is, in anything but a literally bare tank...like a holding tankwith no substrate and no rockwork, they aren't appreciably effective. There is just too much surface areas that prevent algaes and pathogens to pass through the UV sterilizer and be killed. UV sterilizers are, IMO, security blankets.

Make sure you don't overfeed to any degree at all. In fact, at this point in time, I wouldn't be putting any food in the tank at all for the critters in there. They'll do just fine one various algaes growing in the tank.

If it's at all possible, set up a sump with part of it devoted to a refugium. Basically, in it's simplest form, that means an area in which macro-algae....either "chaeto," http://home.pacbell.net/deejay27/chaeto.jpg and or some form of Caulerpa http://bib18.ulb.ac.be/Botanique_I/i...5_caulerpa.jpg …can grow outside of your reef itself. The benefit of doing this is that the macro-algae growing in the refugium, which has a light over it that you can leave on 24/7 will consume much of the nitrates and phosphates that would otherwise be available for unwanted micro-algae like you have there, to grow in the reef.

Water changes…regular and frequent are another thing you should do. This will remove nutrients from the water column that provide the micro-algae with nutrition.

There are other measures that you can take but I think it’s premature to contemplate them at this early stage in your reef. Most likely, you won’t ever have to consider anything more.

[tacoshooter]

Thanks for the detailed reply!

My nitrates are at 0 right now and phosphates were nearly indistinguishable from 0 last time I checked earlier in the week. But my phosphate test kit is in the basement so I didn't do a recheck right now.

pH is 8.2, temp is 80, SG is 1.024 and I top off daily with RO/DI water. Basically everything seems to be in order.

My main tanks are planted freshwater, so I'm pretty used to dealing with algae in those. One technique I use occasionally is a blackout to curb algae growth; is that an accepted method in saltwater? I certainly wouldn't think it could hurt anything given that there are no photosynthetic creatures in the tank.

Thoughts?

[One Eyed Bunny]

Avi, your avatar is amazing. I want! I want!