Grey looking Algae, kind of feathery

Discussion in 'Algae' started by mattheuw1, Nov 4, 2009.

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  1. mattheuw1

    mattheuw1 Montipora Capricornis

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    Hello 3reef,
    Lately I have been noticing a grey feathery algae growing on certain pieces of live rock. Its not dense like green hair algae, its more random and lightly sprinkled over some of my rocks. I've been looking through common algae pics and have not been able to identify it. Other thank it being grey, short, and growing lightly on my rocks I really can't explain much more about it. Anyone know what I'm talking about? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

    Sorry, as of now, I have no pics.
    I'll get some up tonight. In the meantime, deal with it Police!
     
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  3. amcarrig

    amcarrig Super Moderator

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    Go a Google image search for bryopsis and see if that's what you've got.
     
  4. mattheuw1

    mattheuw1 Montipora Capricornis

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    When I first spotted it, I thought byropsis. But byropsis is green, grows fast and is more dense. Like I said, this stuff is very not dense (I can't think of another word, its just not as many strands as like gha per square inch, etc.). It hasn't grown higher than a centimeter, its has spread to new rocks but not much and not fast. You can't even notice it on any of my rocks unless you look VERY closely. It doesn't stick out because the patches are not thick.

    It is clearly gray, not green and it has always been grey since day one (Maybe 3 months ago when I very first noticed it, hasn't spread much since then though). The only time byropsis appears grey is when it is dying from MG spikes.
     
  5. DaDaAtlanta

    DaDaAtlanta Feather Star

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    You sure its not just detritus, have you changed your flow pattern lately? Anything stirring up the sand? Clean up crew?
     
  6. pgreef

    pgreef Fire Goby

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    Does it just grow on the bottom of your rock? Is it kind of feathery?

    Edit: Duh. You said feathery.

    If it only grows on the bottom, I have it too. I've seen it described here but I can't remember what it is called. Here's the best pic of it I could find. Seems to just stay in the dark and doesn't really cover the tops of the rocks.

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Nov 4, 2009
  7. mattheuw1

    mattheuw1 Montipora Capricornis

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    Def not detritus, tried blowing it off and rubbing it with my finger. Algae texture for sure.
    That looks like it pgreef. Except its not just on the bottom of my rocks. It is on the tops, sides and bottom. It has even spread to rocks that were completely dry when I put them in. When i say spread, its not that bad, its just in spots throughout my tank. Anyone know what that thin short grey algae is in PGREEFs Pic? Not the coral but the thin grey algae to the right. It looks like there are a couple of tiny pineapple sponges mixed in there too.
     
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  9. pgreef

    pgreef Fire Goby

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    Mine likes to grow in the deep dark openings in the LR. This is the only picture I could find but it is not a great picture of it. Most of it is longer. It don't think it is actually an algae.
     
  10. mattheuw1

    mattheuw1 Montipora Capricornis

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    I still think it is an algae. I had a green bay packer zoo frag slowly recede from this stuff growing on the frag plug. I also had a 3 head armor of god zoos die from this taking over their frag plug too.
     
  11. pgreef

    pgreef Fire Goby

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  12. mattheuw1

    mattheuw1 Montipora Capricornis

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    PGREEF,

    I went home and checked over some of my rocks to see exactly where this crap is growing and your right. It grows only in low light areas. I have it growing on the top of a couple of my rocks because I recently flipped them to get the coralline to spread.

    So what we know about this "algae"
    1. grows slow and only in low lit areas
    2. stays short and thinned out
    3. no ones posting about it except me and PGreef so it must not be that common
    4. still unidentified in the 3reef world
    5. looks very similar to dying byropsis
    6. grey in color