Please I’d this crap

[coralbeauties]

I’ve been fighting this stuff for well over a year. It is more of a slimy

moss type. It doesn’t thread out like a hair algae. I’m having to scrap and tooth brush my frags every couple weeks which is a job and a pain. Weird part is I have two tanks on the system with the same lights and one tank has it while the other has little to none. I’ll attach some pics to see if anyone has any ideas. This has almost got me wanting to shut this tank down. Any help with id and how to get rid of it would be amazing.

 

[Dan_P]

I’ve been fighting this stuff for well over a year. It is more of a slimy

moss type. It doesn’t thread out like a hair algae. I’m having to scrap and tooth brush my frags every couple weeks which is a job and a pain. Weird part is I have two tanks on the system with the same lights and one tank has it while the other has little to none. I’ll attach some pics to see if anyone has any ideas. This has almost got me wanting to shut this tank down. Any help with id and how to get rid of it would be amazing.

Tough to make out anything in the photos. Can you scape some off and photograph it a clear glass of tank water? As close up as possible?

 

[coralbeauties]

I hope you can tell something from these. I got out the macro lens for the pics.
thanks
Jeff

 

[MrGisonni]

Possibly dinos.

 

[Dan_P]

I hope you can tell something from these. I got out the macro lens for the pics.
thanks
Jeff

This looks like filamentous algae (GHA for example) overgrown with cyanobacteria and all sorts of photosynthetic microorganisms. This happens in my algae pond, aka, refugium, when it becomes overgrown, flow becomes obstructed or nitrate is low. When algae become stressed, they become infested. @taricha, how about a second opinion?

 

[coralbeauties]

This looks like filamentous algae (GHA for example) overgrown with cyanobacteria and all sorts of photosynthetic microorganisms. This happens in my algae pond, aka, refugium, when it becomes overgrown, flow becomes obstructed or nitrate is low. When algae become stressed, they become infested. @taricha, how about a second opinion?

It really has no structure to it. Scrapes off pretty easily and can almost be blown off. Once removed it is pretty much a slimy goo, not stringy at all like gha.
thanks for the help
Jeff

 

[marinesnow]

Looks like it could be lyngbya. What are you nutrient levels?

 

[coralbeauties]

Looks like it could be lyngbya. What are you nutrient levels?

Currently they are 25 for nitrates and .08 on phosphates. Ive been fighting this for more then a year now and I have had levels where they have bottomed out and adding in neophos to as high as .3 phosphates. I use lanthanium to control phos. My snails will eat it so I plan on getting more to try and reduce my work load of keeping them clean.
thanks
Jeff

 

[mues]

Following. I am also fighting very similar looking breakout. Nitrates >10 phos .03


Edit - I think mine is some form of green cyano. Trying to avoid chemicals in my tank, have been manually removing and just purchased a gyre to increase flow

 

[Dan_P]

It really has no structure to it. Scrapes off pretty easily and can almost be blown off. Once removed it is pretty much a slimy goo, not stringy at all like gha.
thanks for the help
Jeff

OK.

A side note, in many of my experimental aquaria, I find most slime clusters like yours are mostly cyanobacteria growing around a few strands of algae. Like yours, these structures are easily removed. Also like yours, they persist. They get to a certain size and then seem to just hang around.

Good luck with your eradication work.

 

[UMALUM]

Currently they are 25 for nitrates and .08 on phosphates. Ive been fighting this for more then a year now and I have had levels where they have bottomed out and adding in neophos to as high as .3 phosphates. I use lanthanium to control phos. My snails will eat it so I plan on getting more to try and reduce my work load of keeping them clean.
thanks
Jeff