Hello!
I've been battling relentless algae for approximately 6 months and I would love help identifying the type(s) of algae I have. Maybe if I can get a positive ID on the type of algae then I'm hoping I'll figure out how to properly rid my tank of it.
Here's some info about my tank:
1. My display tank is about a year and a half old. We began the tank at the end of 2021. The display is approximately 75 gallons and our sump is about 20. We started with live sand and dry rock.
2. We have an assortment of snails and hermit crabs in my display tank (astraea, trochus, urchins, Florida cerith, dwarf cerith, nassarius, halloween hermit, blue leg hermit , blue knuckle hermit, dwarf red hermit, polka dot hermit). I also have a starry blenny. None of these guys put a dent in the algae.
3. We got SCA (dinos) and had them from June/July-ish 2022- December 2022. The hair algae began a little bit before the dinos left.
5. The hair algae is easy to remove. A light brushing will make it fall off. I honestly have no clue what kind this algae is. The color (as you can see in the photos) is a brownish-green. I don't think it has "rooted" into the rocks because it comes right off. I've included some photos of what a rock looks like after a light brushing. Perhaps I've got a combo of algae, hopefully someone will be able to get a positive ID for me. I'd really like to figure this out.
6. My nitrate is 1.8 and my phosphate is .02
Thank you so much
If you need any additional info, please let me know!
The following are photos before any (recent) manual removal:
At the top of this rock, you can kinda see a trail that one of the urchins left:
This is the rock my astraea cleans. You can see he's also covered in algae. He doesn't leave this rock:
After brushing a little bit of the algae off the snail. Again, it is easily removed:
I took one of the rocks out of the tank and quickly brushed it with a toothbrush and this is the result:
Close up. What's left on the rock are the bits in the crevices that I couldn't reach:
Thanks again for any insight!
I've been battling relentless algae for approximately 6 months and I would love help identifying the type(s) of algae I have. Maybe if I can get a positive ID on the type of algae then I'm hoping I'll figure out how to properly rid my tank of it.
Here's some info about my tank:
1. My display tank is about a year and a half old. We began the tank at the end of 2021. The display is approximately 75 gallons and our sump is about 20. We started with live sand and dry rock.
2. We have an assortment of snails and hermit crabs in my display tank (astraea, trochus, urchins, Florida cerith, dwarf cerith, nassarius, halloween hermit, blue leg hermit , blue knuckle hermit, dwarf red hermit, polka dot hermit). I also have a starry blenny. None of these guys put a dent in the algae.
3. We got SCA (dinos) and had them from June/July-ish 2022- December 2022. The hair algae began a little bit before the dinos left.
5. The hair algae is easy to remove. A light brushing will make it fall off. I honestly have no clue what kind this algae is. The color (as you can see in the photos) is a brownish-green. I don't think it has "rooted" into the rocks because it comes right off. I've included some photos of what a rock looks like after a light brushing. Perhaps I've got a combo of algae, hopefully someone will be able to get a positive ID for me. I'd really like to figure this out.
6. My nitrate is 1.8 and my phosphate is .02
Thank you so much
If you need any additional info, please let me know!
The following are photos before any (recent) manual removal:
At the top of this rock, you can kinda see a trail that one of the urchins left:
This is the rock my astraea cleans. You can see he's also covered in algae. He doesn't leave this rock:
After brushing a little bit of the algae off the snail. Again, it is easily removed:
I took one of the rocks out of the tank and quickly brushed it with a toothbrush and this is the result:
Close up. What's left on the rock are the bits in the crevices that I couldn't reach:
Thanks again for any insight!
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