Cali Kid Corals

Black algae/ sponge???

dioworld

Supporting Member
Hi,
My tank is getting a lot of black algae/black sponge? Not really sure what that is. Anyone know how to get rid of it?
Here's a picture . It's covering all the coraline algae and i hated it
Thanks
 

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I have had a black sponge pop up. If it becomes a nuisance you can kill it.
I shut off all pumps. Then cover the sponges with a thick Kalk paste and let that sit about an hour before I turn pumps back on. Melts the sponge away.
 
Hi,
My tank is getting a lot of black algae/black sponge? Not really sure what that is. Anyone know how to get rid of it?
Here's a picture . It's covering all the coraline algae and i hated it
Thanks
I've had this and it can quickly grow out of hand and will cover and kill your corals. In my case, it seemed to prefer spreading over Zoas and killing large colonies. YOu can get a small wire brush and really scrub it of, but it becomes a constant war to keep it in check. If possible I'd remove the rock it's on.
 
very difficult to scrap off, just tried the wire brush, still hard to get off.

I think like this, will hydrogen peroxide 3% work on it?
 
So I have yet to get a consensus on what it was. What I was pretty sure of is it wasn't black algae (has hairs), Black Coraline (was somewhat bulbous,) or black diatoms to hard to get off.)

If you can't remove the rock, then I'd explore what's causing the growth. My guess is you have an excess of nutrients in the tank and if you can master that it will recede over time. Check phosphates, nitrates, and nitrites while you're at it. Remember though that these may test zero if they're all being used up and it can still be a nutrient issue.

Are you over feeding? Are you using any additives, coral food, etc?
 
So I have yet to get a consensus on what it was. What I was pretty sure of is it wasn't black algae (has hairs), Black Coraline (was somewhat bulbous,) or black diatoms to hard to get off.)

If you can't remove the rock, then I'd explore what's causing the growth. My guess is you have an excess of nutrients in the tank and if you can master that it will recede over time. Check phosphates, nitrates, and nitrites while you're at it. Remember though that these may test zero if they're all being used up and it can still be a nutrient issue.

Are you over feeding? Are you using any additives, coral food, etc?
my phosphate jumped up from 0.11 to 0.27 last 2 weeks, just did a water change,
maybe I'll try to change phosguard more often(every 7 day to every 4 day) to keep it in check
Let me also tried dosing microbacter 7 and clean for 2 weeks to see if it helps
 
my phosphate jumped up from 0.11 to 0.27 last 2 weeks, just did a water change,
maybe I'll try to change phosguard more often(every 7 day to every 4 day) to keep it in check
Let me also tried dosing microbacter 7 and clean for 2 weeks to see if it helps
Sounds like a plan. More frequent water changes for a while. Change filter socks every day or so if you use them. Keep getting off as much as you can with the wire brush.
 
I have had this odd black stuff with valves for several years. Seems to grow in indirect light or low light and does not seem to really bother my corals, yet anyway. I can't tell from the OP picture if it is the same though?

IMG_9320.jpg
 
Do you dose with AB+? Over-dosing with AB+ encourages a kind of black...something...to cover the rock. Something about too many aminos in the tank maybe. The AB+ bottle specifically mentions it...maybe fatty acid precipitate? Anyway....check the AB+ bottle direction if you dose with it.
 
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