Mysterious Growths on my tank

[jejton]

Excuse the lack of pictures as I havent figured out how to take good tank shots with my digital camera and these are small things anyways. Today I noticed ( definately were not there yesterday ) that two sides of my tank are covered in what look almost like little tufts of bright green hair. Not so much like typical hair algae that I am used to though. They range in size but none are bigger than a centimeter in diameter. They almost all have a center which is attached to the glass and branches that radiate out. Each of the branch has a number of branches giving it a tufted look. They dont seem to be moving independently of the current. Any idea what this could be ? For details on my setup, go to my tank log.

 

[KathyC]

Even a lousy pic might help

 

[jejton]

ok how do i set the parameters on the camera to take a decent shot? ( i.e. ISO, color, etc ).

 

[KathyC]

Does it have one that says 'auto'? I use that

Camera people?? :help:

 

[ZANYMASTER]

Bryopsis maybe?Deanos is the link master here.

 

[meschaefer]

Bryopsis maybe?Deanos is the link master here.

Bryopsis

There is a picture about half way down that might help identify it. I would also google Bryopsis images to get more pics.

 

[jejton]

Any ideas that it is ?

 

[jejton]

The largest ones are under a centimeter in diameter with most of them being 1-5 mm. I have only seen them on the glass so far, not on the rocks.

 

[jejton]

:bump:

 

[mray]

No idea what that is but you should take care of it FAST. If it is growing on your glass like that there is no telling where else it can grow.

 

[reefs4life]

I think it looks cool and you shouldn't destroy until you know what it is. I'm guessing some type of hydroid though

 

[jejton]

mray - dont be so excitable. If its harmless then I can leave it for the snails and crabs.

reefs4life - i dont think they are hydroids because a.) i've never seen green hydroids b.) they dont seem to react when touched or move independently.

 

[jejton]

Nobody knows what this is ?

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Bryopsis as stated above.

 

[jejton]

Thanks chief. It didnt look like any of the photos in matt's link. So is this a normal part of the algae cycle or is indicative of bad husbandry ? what do i do about it? The conch seems to eat it but can't reach anything more than a few inches higher than the sandbed.

 

[meschaefer]

Could be bryopsis. No matter what its name, it is an alage that you probably don't want in your tank.

 

[meschaefer]

normal part of algae cycle. Needs to be dealt with, but normal.

 

[mray]

Needs to be dealt with, but normal.

He doesn't think so though :lol2: Also, bryopsis doesn't come on it's own. It has to be introduced.

 

[meschaefer]

He doesn't think so though :lol2: Also, bryopsis doesn't come on it's own. It has to be introduced.

No. I don't think he ever said that he didn't think it needed to be dealt with, what he did indicate was that he was willing to investigate the matter before killing something off. Admirable.

You are correct, it does need to be introduced.

 

[Domboski]

Macro algae.

Did you put anything in your tank from the local LI waters? I get those growing in my tanks too. Some green but a lot are red too. I keep them off the glass in the display but let them grow in the fuge.