Algae- Good Bad or Ugly

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TMartinez

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 27, 2010
761
1
0
Mandarin, Fl
In the last two weeks I've appeared to have gotten an algae "bloom". First let me note my rocks, which were one a brown-grey color are all now a light purple color with sections that are deep purple and spots that are red. I am assuming coraline?

My main concern is with the green "fuzz". What is it? Why do I have it? Is it bad? If so How do I get rid of it?

Also in the last picture I have a algae growth that is read a leafy. Same questions...

Thanks in advance

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It is hair algae and it considered bad. In bigger tanks it can be good because tangs will eat it up, but in small tanks it tends to be a bit harder to get rid of. I would only worry about it if it continues to grow and spread.
 
I know the picture is awful, but any thoughts on the red leafy alhae in the last picture?

Should i manually remove the hair algae? Maybe get a lawnmower blenny?
 
TMartinez;4981579; said:
I know the picture is awful, but any thoughts on the red leafy alhae in the last picture?

Should i manually remove the hair algae? Maybe get a lawnmower blenny?
Click to expand...

If it is "leafy" then it is most likely a beneficial macro algae. I can't tell from the picture. It would have been a hitchhiker on a quality piece of live rock. I would let it grow and it can be harvested quite easily to keep it under control.
 
Lawnmower blennies aren't recommended for tanks that size. They can starve very easily.
I had hair algae in my 28 gallon nano at one point and successfully got rid of it. It can be caused by phosphates, excess nutrients, and long light periods.
1. You can buy a phosphate test kit to see if you have any.
2. How often do you feed your fish? It could be caused by overfeeding.
3. How long are your lights on? If its caused by this, simply reduce the amount of time your lights are on.
If it is growing because of 1 or 2, you can do waterchanges more often to improve the water quality along with cutting back on how often or how much you feed. Manually removing the algae does help, but only if you fix the problem causing it to grow, otherwise it will grow right back.
 
Lawnmowers are over rated for controlling hair algae. They tend to only like the soft, new growth. The older stuff has a tendency to be tough and stringy, and mine wouldnt touch it back when I had a GHA issue.
 
I have 1 ocellarius clownfish, 1 fancy percula, 1 diamond goby, 2 peppermint shrimp.

I feed 1/3-1/2 a block of mysis twice a day. I do occasionally alternate with flake food.
My lights are on 7-11am (4 hours) and 6-10pm(4 hours) so only 8 hours day total...
I've never tested for phospahtes...

Should I pull out what's in there?
 
I would pull it and maybe feed a little less.
 
I try to cut those blocks down as much as possible but they are hard to do in quarters
 
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