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Old 09-16-2011, 09:27 PM
milano07 milano07 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Myka View Post
Interesting, thanks for posting ID. How did you go about IDing it? Just picture match or something more scientific?

It looks a lot like an algae that I had in my tank for the first 6-8 months of setting it up. It eventually just went away on its own as nutrients were lowered and the tank matured. I added a Tuxedo Urchin as well who seemed to eat it a bit.
I was able to identify this algae after I found a couple of threads with pics on RF. After looking at their pics I quickly realized it was the same type of algae that has been taking over my tank for the last couple of months. Here is a link to a site where you can find more info on this type of algae.

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/alg...ia-expansa.htm

http://www.algaebase.org/search/spec...pecies_id=1271


Quote:
Originally Posted by dreef View Post
Are you sure its not Lobophora Variegata ..looks what i was battling a few years ago.Found some info on RC, they suggested a certain kind of tang,or sally lightfoot crabs.I went with the sallys,and within months,was totally gone.I know some don't trust any crabs.My fish are big,or a good size,still have a few sallys after the years.Zero problems,all they do is clean rock 24/7 here's an RC link

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...ight=lobophora
I am a 100% that it's not Lobophora Variegata. I have seen this type of algae in friend's tank and it's definitely not the same one that's in my set up.



Quote:
Originally Posted by shrimpchips View Post
Anything that eats coralline algae - urchins will usually do the job. My rock had it here and there but the urchins will eventually mow it over.
Yeah, I have to stop by the fish store to find out if they have any Urchins in stock.



Quote:
Originally Posted by christyf5 View Post
I've had that in the past, urchins will eat it as a byproduct of the coralline they seem to prefer. What worked for me, ultimately, was lowering nutrients. At the time i was using the Fauna Marin Ultralith system. It disappeared in about 6 months. After quitting the system small patches have reappeared but seem to be limited to those two patches. It has been several years and a tank upgrade since I had it. Try increasing your water change frequency and feeding less (ie. lowering/exporting nutrients) and it should slowly start to recede.

I'll look for a small Urchin later on. Water changes will be increased for sure. I'll do them weekly instead of bi weekly and hopefully this will help. Now, I doubt the bio-load is high as there are only 2 fish in this tank and they are only fed 3 times a week. The skimmer I use is the MCE600 which I think it's a pretty good skimmer.


Again, the only thing that I have changed in the last few months is the light fixture. There used to be a MH over this tank but this was switched for a T5 fixture and that's when I noticed that this algae started growing. I should mention that I was using a GE 6500K bulb but it got rid of it not long ago as I thought that this bulb might have something to do with this algae problem.

Last edited by milano07; 09-16-2011 at 09:30 PM.
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