What is this algae????

[royy]

I have this algae in my tank that is growing in really long strands. It is a skinny long strand that is a dark color. It tends to grow off of the glass, powerheads, and my Monti corals. It seems to come off pretty easy, but then just grows back in the next day or two. Does anyone know what it is? If so, how do I get rid of it.

Roy

 

[Mikef1]

It soundslike red slime algae

 

[royy]

Is red slime AKA cyano bacteria?

Roy

 

[GnG]

Yes it is. Its a photosynthetic bacteria. Sometimes called hair algae. Check out the garf site for more info on it. www.garf.org. You might have a water quality problem. I would check for phosphates. It can over grow a tank in a few days. The best thing I have found to control hair algae is the "reef janitors" from GARF. They are snails and hermit crabs that target hair algae. You definitely need to jump on it as soon as possible. It can overgrow your corals and kill them. I'm speaking from experience. They can also cause your oxygen levels to fall to a low level at night and this will kill your fish.

Good luck,
Gary

 

[royy]

I actully have had the cyano before, but it looked different. It just basicly coated every thing over in a slime. It was on my sand, rock, and corals. I lost 2 frags, but every thing else was ok. It started to recede. Then the long strands on my powerheads started to show up. I thought it might me cyano too, but wasn't sure since it looked different; long stands instead of just a slime coating. I have been wet skimming to try to get more organics out. I see a little reduction in the algae, but not a lot. I noticed that running new carbon helps a bit. I was considering adding vinegar to my Kalk to see if that would work. Several have suggested in for other algaes. Who knows.

Roy

 

[Ben1]

Have you tried looking at pictures of dinoflagellates? This is a possibilty.

HTH