Need help identifying these things

[Poonaka]

Been fighting some terrible hair algae for a while now. Anyways it's starting to go away and some other stuff has appeared.

#1 Some bubbly algae looking stuff:

IMG_3243 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

#2 A tiny neon yellow/green feather duster looking thing but with nothing sticking out:

IMG_3244 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

#3 Tiny yellowish structures growing:

IMG_3245 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

#4 Transparent almost jelly fish looking stuff:

IMG_3246 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Sorry I don't have better photos.

 

[Reefmack]

No idea on #1 unless it's some type of tunicates (only a guess)

#2 Neomeris

Melevsreef.com - Neomeris annulata

#3 Maybe another macroalgae, possible Halimeda (guessing)

#4 Possibly a sponge between the mushrooms

 

[cbrownfish]

1. Don't know.

2. Caterpillar Weed.

3. Halimeda.

4. Sponge.

 

[Adalius]

Aha! I've been looking for that Neomeris for awhile. I've got the *tiniest* speck of it and I couldn't figure out what it was. Granted by 'looking for awhile' I mean waiting for someone else to post it because I haven't done a single search ;-) Thanks!

 

[Reefmack]

Adalius - Neomeris is a rather pretty macroalgae and I've never heard of it getting out of control - a nice bright green!

 

[Adalius]

Something keeps nibbling at mine, it's just one single 'stalk' about 1/8" long, if even, and as soon as it gets that long I'm assuming one of my hermits snips it off and eats it, then it'll come back a few days later. I thought when I had just first seen it in the tank that it was lint from my neon green construction shirt that somehow got in the tank.

 

[Boomer]

I agree with Terry and brown. I would guess #1 some type of algae or sponge. Need a better pic

 

[ReeferMan420]

first pic is cluster bubble algae no bueno

second pic is neomaris a type of calcareous algae very cool!

3rd pic is Halimeda- another cool calcareous algae!

4 most likely a sponge but could also be a mat of zooxanthellae

 

[Poonaka]

Thanks for all the replies!

first pic is cluster bubble algae no bueno

second pic is neomaris a type of calcareous algae very cool!

3rd pic is Halimeda- another cool calcareous algae!

4 most likely a sponge but could also be a mat of zooxanthellae

Isn't bubble algae bad?

 

[Adalius]

It can be. Some people get lucky and have just a single clump that stays there and looks kind of interesting, but by and large you're better off getting it out so you don't find out the hard way that you aren't lucky.

You can try a mithrax crab, but it's not guarenteed they're eat it and they can nip at other things which is bad, and have been witnessed eating fish if they get large enough and run out of algae to feed on.

You can remove them by hand *carefully*. If you pop any of the bubbles it can release spores into the tank making it spread even faster.

There's also some tangs I believe that will eat them, but I avoid increasing my fish load if I don't have to, especially if I didn't want the fish to begin with.

 

[ReeferMan420]

Thanks for all the replies!



Isn't bubble algae bad?

LOL yeah thats why I added the "no bueno"

If you have it isolated its not so bad but if you have some and they are hidden from view and they burst their spores it can spread rather quickly. The biological methods of removal are sometimes cumbersome, as with any livestock addition, once the food source is used they tend to turn to other things including your expensive coral. The best method is manual removal, like Adailius said, be careful not to break open the bubbles as this releases millions of spores. What I did was take out the rock and pop them off with a tooth brush then I rinse the area with a few turkey baster squirts with some distilled water. Havent had an issue since. Hope this helps