What kind of Algae is this (and what will eat it)

[ji]

What kind of agae is this and what will eat it?

I currently have a yellow tang, an algae blenny,
zebra and red-legged hermit crabs, and some snails
and nothing seems to eat this stuff, which has recently appeared,
enough to make a dent. These pictures are about two weeks of
growth. There are several patches like the one in the picture.


The tank is a year old 55 gal system. Water is RO/DI,
nitrate is reasonable (about 5), and otherwise the tank is
doing fine.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Anonymous]

Hard to tell from the pictures but my guess would be Galaxaura spp.
Manual removal if you really want to get rid of it; some Sea Urchins will eat it.

Regards,
David Mohr

 

[Anonymous]

I am suprised your yellow tang won't eat it. All my tangs go nuts for any red algae I have offered.

If I were you I would reach my hand in there and just yank out as much as you can.

Not that this will make you feel any better, but I think its kind of pretty!

 

[ji]

I have tried to rip to out by hand. It seems well
rooted in the rock. These pictures show what it looks
like two weeks after I have removed it.

 

[ji]

Looking some more at it, it appears to be pterocladia.
This is mentioned in Sprung's Algae book but with
no picture. Looking at some pictures on the web, this
seems to be it, but a search on the forums here show
no hits on this species.

At one point there were many red macroalgaes growing,
and when I purchased the tang (about 10 months ago) he
ate all of them. Perhaps another tang might eat this stuff
but my tank is only 55 gal, so a really don't want to do this.

 

[Ben1]

If you have to break the acro off thee small rock and let the red algae rock dry out. Constant manual removal may be your only other option.

 

[GSchiemer]

I love that macroalgae, but if you really must get rid of it, try urchins of the genera Mespila, Tripneustes, and Diadema, in that order.

Greg

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, if you could control it... it kinda looks nice.
~wings~

 

[reefann]

Fox face would eat that stuff IME
Cant believe that your yellow tang will not....?

 

[Anonymous]

Tear it out and ship it to me . My yellow tang would probably eat it though .