What type of algea?

SonicGT02

Reefing newb
What type of algea is this stuff? I keep picking it off the rock, but I swear it comes back even thicker!! My purple tang doesn't show any interest in it either. What is it and how can I get rid of it? :frustrat:
 

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It's bryopsis,not a very tasty algae .Most fish and inverts won't touch the stuff.I've heard of seahares eating it but someone with experience would have to recommend it for you.Personally,I never tried one.Lots of waterchanges,keeping nitrate and phosphate at zero is all I can recommend.
 
Seahares will eat bryopsis. They're about the only animals that do. Some emerald crabs will, but chances are slim! You are going to have to remove as much as possible by hand, and just stick with it. If you do get a seahare, be sure that the store can take it back when it's done or it will starve to death very quickly in your tank. They mow down algae like crazy and run out of food very fast.
 
Another good way to fight this stuff is to keep detritious blown off of your rocks, use a turkey baster and blow the rocks off everyday for a week or so. Too much light and too much phosphates can also lead to it. What is your lighting schedule? Do you rinse your food before you feed? If not rinse it in RO water before adding it to the tank. Also do you run GFO(granulated ferrous oxide IE Rowaphos or Phosban)? If not think about getting a media reactor to run it. If you do get one, you want the GFO to be slightly tumbling in the reactor. Also don't run a ton of it right off the bat, you can shock your corals with the sudden lack of phosphates so ramp up your use and change it monthly.
 
That's kind of funny, because someone else just told me that it is good macro algea and that they are suprised that my purple tang isn't eating it. They suggested getting a rabbit fish. My lighting schedule is my T5's from 10 to 10 and the MH's from 2pm to 8pm. I do have Phosban and phosphates are 0. Nothing is reading out of the norm.
 
Theres 2 reasons for having a 0 reading on phosphates when your fighting algae.
#1 PO4 kits only pick up on inorganic phosphates like fertilizer.They don't tell you how much organic phosphate that your getting from the natural byproducts of the livestock.
#2 The algae takes phosphates outta the in something like 7 seconds.

Something else that WILL eat bryopsis are lettuce nudibranches.But they'll also starve once the bryopsis is gone.
 
Yep, lettuce leaf nudibranchs are obligate bryopsis eaters. Meaning they only eat bryopsis, and nothing else. Once it's gone, they die.
 
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