Mossball and macroalgae help

[Oople]

Hi all,

I’ve lost my macroalgae clump and it looks like the mossball might be going downhill too. Any advice would be much appreciated!

Current setup:
2 gallon tank
40-50? opae ula
Aquarium gravel with coral and basalt rocks
half-strength salt water using Instant Ocean and distilled water
LED light on timer, 12 hrs on
Temp in the 70’s most of the year; maybe 80’s in the summer

Opae history:
I’ve had a small group of opae ula for many years - forget exactly but I think 5-6. They are liberated ecosphere plus donations from friends who moved away. They were in a small glass, maybe 1/2 gal or less. I saw the first set of babies around Christmas 2013. I was really happy but the shrimps got ignored since I had a baby too.

They got upgraded to a 2 gal tank in 2015. There were about a dozen shrimp by that time. I started supplementing in August 2016 with a small flake (lentil size) every week or two. This March, I saw a heavily berried female and then the adorable tiny bobbers.

In April, I got a dozen opae, a mossball and macroalgae to add to the tank. I also got a light and timer. After the addition of the light, the tank walls grew a coating of brown algae that peeled off in sheets. The shrimp ate it up. I didn’t feed until all the algae was gone and I would regularly see a bunch of shrimp wandering about grazing. When I feed, it’s a lentil size flake or a single micro pellet every 3-4 weeks. I’ve had some babies each month since March. I don’t clean my tank walls but in July I noticed what I assumed was hair algae growing on a patch of the coral for the first time. Around this same time, the macroalgae which had been growing well, started to show signs of distress. It just went downhill from there. I tried to put together some pictures to show progression, but the mossball color change isn’t showing up well in the photos. I really don’t want to lose my moss ball. I have dreams of a lush green carpet of mossballs.

[Mustafa]

Hmmm....I wouldn't worry much about the mossball. They're almost impossible to kill. Even if they don't multiply they just sit there and wait for better conditions before suddenly producing a bunch of "baby" mossballs.

As for the macroalgae...it seems like somehow the conditions became more suitable for hair algae. Hair algae can outcompete the macroalgae. I'd just keep removing the hair algae and wait. Your macroalgae will recover eventually in most cases. Do you remember changing anything significantly around the time the hair algae started to take over?

[Oople]

Thanks for the advice. I don’t remember doing anything different at the time. The hair algae hasn’t come back though so yay. There’s still a few small wisps but that’s it. Here’s a small strand of macroalgae that was leftover and seems to be doing well. Maybe it’ll grow! The shrimp seem ok, found 11 bobbers yesterday.

Although I noticed something weird in my work tank. Dark grey spots on the coral. Any ideas what that is?

[Mustafa]

I'm glad the hair algae hasn't come back! The dark spots look like some kind of biofilm. I wouldn't be worried about it. How's the macroalgae doing?

[Oople]

The few strands left are growing and there’s a small clump now. The mossball is still the same. The hair algae came back though. It

isn’t growing as fast as when it first showed up so I’ll pull it up and hopefully it will eventually stay away.

I bought a new tank for Work because the jar they are in now has shoulders which makes viewing really difficult. The black patches in the work tank has grown but if it just biofilm I won’t worry about it. It should be ok to transfer the sand and coral into the new tank, right?

[Oople]

Ok, so I assumed it was hair algae on the coral but now I’m not sure. When I went to pull up the algae off, it wasn’t growing like hair on the coral, but as a clump like the macroalgae, with just one strand or two caught on the coral. It was a small clump, they size of a fat pea, and was softer and finer than the initial clump I ordered.

[Mustafa]

Do you have any pictures of it? Glad the few strands of macroalgae turned into a clump again. This species tends to recover like that.

[Super Jess]

I think I might be having the same macroalgae experience as you. Thought it all died and disappeared, then saw tiny hair-like strands that I thought was hair algae. I'd been pulling it out, but noticed it never seemed to actually attach to anything the way hair algae usually does. I figured wth I'll let it grow a bit and see what happens and now I have two smallish clumps of very fine green threads that are free-floating. It doesn't have the same loose, open structure that the original macroalgae had--it's much denser. But it still hasn't attached to anything. Weird! I'll try and get a pic. Maybe our macroalgaes are related?

[Erlina _rusli]

Hey here my pic of some of macro algae start a small colony in different part of my tank? Is it similar like yours?

[Super Jess]

Here are some pics of mine -- much finer and feathery and denser than the original.

[Oople]

Finer and feathery is a good description. Here’s a couple of pictures. I let it grow a bit so I could get a better look. I pulled out a bit today and it came out easily like it was just entwined with the other strands, and not attached to anything. Although now I’m noticing something else new - feathery and white.

[Mustafa]

Super Jess and Oople....you both have hair algae. "Hair" or "string" algae are dozens or hundreds of species of algae that grow in hair or string-like fashion. Some are attached to surfaces and others just grow in large clumps.

[Oople]

Thanks for the confirmation. Once the floaters start crawling I’ll get in there and clear it out. I wonder if I fed them twice in December and gave them 2 holiday dinners? Good thing I went cold turkey in Feb after noticing the algae growth. They might have to fast until Thanksgiving.

[Mustafa]

They'll also eat the dying hair algae in cooperation with any snails you may have...so no feeding needed for a while.

[Oople]

It’s been at least a year of no feeding and I’m still pulling out hair algae every couple months. No signs of slowing down. I think my moss ball is gone.