Algae overtaking clove polyp!

[ELBee]

I've got a frag with some clove polyps on it that is slowly being taken over by some type of hair algae.

So far, I've been going in with tweezers and carefully, painstakingly picking all off that I can. I've made a serious dent, but this is neither thorough nor sustainable.

Is there anything else I can do, or a dip I can use that will spare the coral?

 

[civics14]

I've got a frag with some clove polyps on it that is slowly being taken over by some type of hair algae.

So far, I've been going in with tweezers and carefully, painstakingly picking all off that I can. I've made a serious dent, but this is neither thorough nor sustainable.

Is there anything else I can do, or a dip I can use that will spare the coral?

Is it on a frag plug? If so, do a peroxide dip. 3:1 ratio is very safe, 3 parts otc hydrogen peroxide to 1 part tank water. Do a 20-30 sec dip. That should take care of it.

Or, if you have a syringe, you can spot treat it with peroxide.

 

[King Piscean]

How old is your setup? Your rock looks brand new.

 

[ELBee]

How old is your setup? Your rock looks brand new.

Thanks, it is pretty new. Only been up and running since October!

 

[dball711]

Hermits and turbo snails.

 

[King Piscean]

I love the turbo snails. They are algae destroyers.

 

[jcook54]

Does it pull away pretty easily or is it the type that if you pinched a section you could lift up the whole rock and them some? Regular ol' green hair algae can usually be removed pretty easily. You can get big clumps of it to come off when using a siphon to water change. There's another type that has become really common that is strong with a root system to match. When you try to remove it, it tears and leaves behind quite a lot.

All of the suggestions so far will work for either but I've found snails tend to stay away from the 2nd type that's really hard to remove. I can't even get blue legs to munch on it. If it is the 2nd type (I believe it is some type of bryopsis that doesn't have the fern patterned leaves) I would address it soon by dipping in peroxide. The only other remedy that I've found is a Reef Flux (fluconazole) treatment.

 

[ELBee]

Does it pull away pretty easily or is it the type that if you pinched a section you could lift up the whole rock and them some? Regular ol' green hair algae can usually be removed pretty easily. You can get big clumps of it to come off when using a siphon to water change. There's another type that has become really common that is strong with a root system to match. When you try to remove it, it tears and leaves behind quite a lot.

All of the suggestions so far will work for either but I've found snails tend to stay away from the 2nd type that's really hard to remove. I can't even get blue legs to munch on it. If it is the 2nd type (I believe it is some type of bryopsis that doesn't have the fern patterned leaves) I would address it soon by dipping in peroxide. The only other remedy that I've found is a Reef Flux (fluconazole) treatment.

It was tue latter kind. Filamentous but with surprisingly high tensile strength. Thanks for the info!!

 

[ELBee]

Is it on a frag plug? If so, do a peroxide dip. 3:1 ratio is very safe, 3 parts otc hydrogen peroxide to 1 part tank water. Do a 20-30 sec dip. That should take care of it.

Or, if you have a syringe, you can spot treat it with peroxide.

Oh my gosh it worked like a CHARM! Look at her now! She is looking SO much better, and there were a ton of tiny new heads/stalks that were hidden by the algae.

 

[jcook54]

Since it is the 2nd "tougher" type, I would do everything I can to eliminate it from your system. I believe this is some type of bryopsis and it can be very stubborn. There's no need to panic, I've had it in every one of my tanks but once it get's out of hand, it can be difficult to eliminate.

I first spotted it in my frag system. It looked a LOT like standard GHA so I let it ride. GHA, cyacno, diatoms, all of these thing happen and I don't get too worked up about it because I know what needs to be done to eliminate it. So I just let it go thinking "I'll just siphon a bunch of it out when I do a water change." Well, by the time I got around to it I had quite a bit and the siphon didn't get much more than a few scraps. Then I had to treat with flucozanole. It knocked it way back and took another treatment to get rid of which eventually let to some cyano issues.

Long story short - if I could go back in time I would have taken steps a lot sooner to try and eliminate the stuff. This stuff is so common, I don't know if it really can be eliminated but I would have tried.