Algae invasion

[gim83]

Hello,
first, excuse me for my bad english, i am french.
I need help, because i have algae invasion, and nobody knows what it is.
Please look the pictures :

This algae is rigid, grows in bouquet and his color is purple.
When you pull it, she breaks into small piece.
Perhaps you have a name and predator for this algae ?
Thank you,
Best regards, Pascal.

 

[spanko]

First of all Bienvenue á SWF.com. Many here to help you and to hopefully learn from you too.
Always hard to get a real ID on the red macro algae. A question or two;
Are the branches hollow? (like tubes)
Are the very tips a yellow in color?
Are the tips indented?
Do you know where the rock originated from?
If it is stiff, hard, not sure that there will be a natural predator of it as it may be a calcareous algae.
Could also be some type of Polysiphonia sp. a turf algae.

 

[meowzer]

Hello and welcome to SWF......Just wanted to say nice corals...do you have a full tank shot?

 

[spanko]

Also take a look at
Scinaia sp.

 

[gim83]

Are the branches hollow? (like tubes)Yes
Are the very tips a yellow in color?
No
Are the tips indented?
No
Do you know where the rock originated from?
Indonesia, normaly...
and for the full tank shot, i take it in 2 or 3 hours
For this algae, perhaps Actinotrichia fragilis like this shot :

http://wetwebmedia.com/redalgae.htm
no ?

 

[spanko]

I tend to think not.
A photo of Actinotrichia fragilis, an uncommon algae found in shallow water. This algae's color and fine concentric rings are distinctive.

 

[spanko]

From the answers to the questions I am going to GUESS some form of Galaxaura sp..
I am still afraid that you will not find a natural predator for this though. I hope someone else can chime in here.

 

[gim83]

Hello spanko, thank you for this ID.
Bob from saltcorner says the same thing :

[hr]
Thanks for your letter and from what I can see in the photos, you have low growing Galaxaura fastigiata, a calcified alga that has hard hollow cylindrical branches. There is nothing that I know of that eats this alga, except maybe a parrotfish, which would not be a good species for the other corals in your system. Beside just pruning as needed, there’s no quick way to rid the system of it. Nevertheless, its somewhat nice looking if maintained in small amounts.