Problem with corals

[Azilla]

Hey i need some help im gettin a funny alge on my green stars it just started last night they where out in full force now they stay in. Kinda worried also my fingure leather went all white colored here are some pics.

www.phatkids.net/tank/pic1.jpg
www.phatkids.net/tank/pic2.jpg
www.phatkids.net/tank/pic3.jpg
www.phatkids.net/tank/pic4.jpg

Im a lil worried that its that Dino alge that everyone talks about.

[Beverly]

I'm no expert, but the algae in the first pic looks a little like cyanobacteria. Have you tried turkey basting your corals? If so, what was the result? Also, how strong is the water flow on the coral in the second pic? If it is on the low side, increasing flow might be helpful. Other than that, I hope folks with more expertise than I will offer opinions.

[Quinn]

I agree it is almost certainly cyanobacteria. I had good luck with increasing flow like Bev said, increasing skimming and cutting down on feeding. I feel that basting it may in fact hasten its spread, try it and see what happens.

[Bob I]

Quinn is right it is probably Cyano, but I have found increasing flow will NOT help. Turkeybasting is also ineffective. Over the years I have found Cyano to be part of the natural maturing process of a tank. If you can't live with it, you might use Chemiclean. I found it to highly effective.

[Seamonkey]

I had the unfortunate luck to get cyanobacteria in my reeftank once. No matter what I did, water changes, turkey basting, sucking it out, it just got worse and worse. I was ready to tear the tank down. I used a product called maracyn (eurethroymycin) and it cleared up the problem within 3 treatments. (In my tank it did not harm any of the soft corals, fish or inverts that I had) and I have never had this problem again.
NOT THAT I AM SUGGESTING YOU USE THIS, cause i'm no scientist. I just know that I was so desparate that I had to do something, even if it meant the whole tank crashed, cause in my opinion it would have anyway without intervention of some sort. For me this was a success. Don't know what other people do to fight off this invasive algae. Hope you find help, cause it sure looks like my tank did when it started.

[Quinn]

I think Bob raises a good point here. A minor cyano case can be controlled fairly easily. Maybe consider some minor tweaks, and as long as it doesn't actually start killing corals, don't worry too much about it. I had a small patch of it in the middle of my sand bed right up until I tore my tank down, and it never really grew beyond that spot. So I didn't worry too much about totally eliminating it.

[BMW Rider]

The stringy brown stuff may be the expelled zooxanthellae from your coral. That would also explain the whiteness of your leather. It appears for some reason to have bleached itself. I'd do a water change and syphon out as much of it as you can to prevent it from fouling the water. Possibly something stressed your system to cause this, so check all your parameters to see if something is out of whack. It may also just be a normal cyclical process that the coral is going through, apparently some do this according to Eric Borneman in his book 'Aquarium Corals'. Keep a close eye on it for a while to see if it improves.

[Azilla]

Thanks for all the input on this issue seems to only bother the Green star and my leather is back to normal.
I have to do my water change today anyways thanks all.

[Quinn]

I only had my leather for a month, but it regularly retracted its polyps for a day or so at a time. Maybe someone who's had one for longer can let us know if this is something one can expect.

Maybe try moving the GSPs to another location if the cyano is problematic.