Algae question

[just a nano]

I've had my 24 gallon nano set up for a couple years. It includes fish and corals. Everything has been going
well. But I'm getting some algae cropping up. (see pictures) I'm wondering what I can do to address this.
Is there something I can treat the tank wth or what steps can be taken. I've included the pictures, because I know there are different types of algae.

 

[katsafados]

Looks like bubble algae but cant see it to well. If it is syphin them out with the water changes. They can go sexual and take over your tank pretty fast.

 

[just a nano]

Thanks for the response.
To clarify, its not bubble algae. I've seen it before and this is not it.
When I've tried t o syphon it, it stuck to the rock, so syphoning doesn't work. I sometimes use a toothbrush to scrub it loose. That gets most of it, but not all of it. Plus, scrubbing everywhere is hard on the corals when they get bumped around.
I'd like to find something the treat the tank with, or some other way to get rid of it.

 

[nikesb]

sounds like bryopsis. does the algae look feathery?

 

[just a nano]

After poking around in another thread about algae, I think its Derbesia sp.
Here is a picture I found. This is not my tank, but I think it would look like this if I let it grow uncontrolled.

Any thoughts or recommendations on how to handle?

 

[nikesb]

ok it could either be derbasia (hair algae) or bryopsis. i had both at the same time but what i found that helps is to take out the rocks you can and scrub them down with a new un-used toothbrush. if theyre not coming, off its probably bryopsis. in that case you would need to start dosing some kent tech-m and get your mg to high levels to remove and kill bryopsis. raising my mg also helped slow down the growth of hair algae which allowed the cuc to catch up and eliminate it. this took me probably 3-4 weeks total. another key is to keep the algae short. if theyre short, your cuc should eat it. if it gets long, they wont touch it at all.

 

[just a nano]

Ok, that makes sense.
I think part of the problem is that some of it is on and around corals or other places where my cuc won't go (due to having to climb on soft corals). Any suggestions for those areas? Those are the ones that concern me the most cause brushing that area to get it of harms the corals. An example of this would be in and around my zooanthids.

 

[meowzer]

lettuce nudibranch will eat bryopsis.....and they will go anywhere

 

[nikesb]

get a soft bristle toothbrush for the zoa's. lettuce nudibranchs are a good option if you can get rid of him after your problem is gone. if not, he will eventually suffer and die of starvation leading to different problems

 

[meowzer]

Originally Posted by nikeSB
http:///forum/post/3262755
get a soft bristle toothbrush for the zoa's. lettuce nudibranchs are a good option if you can get rid of him after your problem is gone. if not, he will eventually suffer and die of starvation leading to different problems
VERY TRUE.....if you are lucky enough to live by a lfs or have a club nearby for trading purposes the lettuce nudi would be great

 

[spanko]

Better yet, algae needs light and nutrients to grow. Address these issues and you can help to control the growth of unwanted algae. Have you ever used a turkey baster to blow on your rocks? If not you will probably be amazed at what will come up from them. That coupled with a good amount of flow in your tank will help to keep future detritus from accumulating on the rocks. Also what is accumulating can be a result of over feeding, too many critters in the tank, insufficient flow and filtering methods, insufficient water change volume or regularity. On the lighting issue a couple of things. How long is your photoperiod? 8-10 hours is plenty, anything longer is just additional fuel for the algae. How old are you bulbs? Depending on what kind of bulbs you have there are varying lengths of time that they start to "burn out" in some of the color spectrum and leave the spectrums that are advantages to algae growth. Bulbs need to be changed on a regular schedule.