Brown Coralline? 11/09/08
I've had a dark brown slightly reddish coralline algae starting to spread on my back overflows, Koralia's and some live rock. It looks just like the coralline type but the color is wrong. I cannot seem to find anything about this type of algae on the forum. Any ideas?
<It could just be the red coralline instead of the purple you are used to seeing. I'm supposing it looks brown because of your lighting. If it is hard and crusty like the purple then no worries. If it is filmy and slimy then it could be cyano or diatoms. But most likely its just a different color coralline.>
Thank you for all the support!
<Regards, Jessy>
alan

Algae I.D. 09/27/2008 Greetings Crew, <<Good morning, Andrew today>> Thanks for the great site! I have looked high and low for information on this algae but I can not find it anywhere. Forgive me if I've simply overlooked it. Thanks in advance. <<Corallina elongata i would suggest. Please do use your search engine for plenty of info on this algae>> John T. <<Thanks for the questions, hope this helps. A Nixon>>

Beautiful.

Re: Algae I.D. 11/02/08 Hello again Crew, <Hello, I'm so, so sorry this email does not appear to have been answered after all this time.> I've looked up Corallina elongata but I am unsure that is what I have. I did find this page www.wetwebmedia.com/trialalgaeid.htm <Ah, I'm glad you found that page.> with a similar looking algae. (Very bottom row, in the middle) It's listed as possibly being Fauchea. I'll keep up the search. <Macro algaes are indeed often very difficult to ID by eye, by picture.> Is it not ironic that our passion teaches us patience but when we have questions we want answers right now? <Hehe... "the more we know, the more we don't know."> Thanks again for a great web site and for taking time to help. I live in an area without a LFS and as far as I know have the only salt water tank in town. I could not have done it without Wet Web! <Great to hear, thank you for the kind words!> John T <Best, Sara M.>

Coralline or not? 5/23/08 Hi WWM Crew, <Hello> Sorry to pester, but I've been trying to determine if what is growing on my rock is/is not the much-sought-after coralline algae or not (see attached photo). <Looks like it to me.> I had a bit of a "red slime" problem on my back glass that two Trochus snails resolved, but even when they come to this rock, they have been unable to "clean" it, nor have my burgundy hermits. I just stuck my hand in and scratched it a bit with a fingernail, and it didn't "ooze" off like the red slime did when I touched it. <Sounds like coralline to me.> The rock in question is the white(ish) one in the center. I picked it up from Hanauma Bay seven years ago after it washed onto the beach. When I placed it in the tank a month ago, it was totally white, but this stuff has turned it progressively darker. I am not getting any kind of the same growth on my glass or any other rock, so I'm a bit confused as to why it would limit itself to this rock only. <Something is favoring it's growth in this spot, lighting, water flow most likely reasons.> An added bonus would be if you might be able to give me an idea what this rock is. <Looks like fairly standard reef rock.> Thanks, as always, for your timely and sage replies! -DS- <Welcome> <Chris>

Red Fuzzy Coralline? …Not likely, perhaps another Rhodophyta – 08/26/07 Hello crew! <Hi Dave, Mich here.> I have been researching your site and others trying to figure out what is growing in my 90-gallon reef. <OK.> I have a red feathery/fuzzy substance growing on a lot of my rocks, snails and hermit shells. <OK.> I was wondering if it was a type of coralline and harmless in my tank. <Only guessing without a pic.> I am very familiar with cyano and I don't think this substance is it. <OK, One of many possibilities off the table.> It is very difficult to scrub off, and grows in high flow areas unlike cyano. <Still leaves a plethora of possibilities.> I read a similar query asked by another gentleman on your site. The reply to him was that it was coralline, and that he should drop some vinegar on it to see if it bubbled to be sure that it was. I tried this experiment on my substance and it did not bubble. <Then it is likely not coralline or any other calcium based organism.> The other gentleman described it very well, in my opinion, by saying it appears to look like patches of red mold. <Many nuisance algae come to mind, red turf algae or red hair algae such as Polysiphonia, Asparagopsis, Anotrichum barbatum, Gelidium pusillus, or perhaps a beneficial organism such as a red tree Foram (Homotrema rubrum) Your expertise would be greatly appreciated. <A photo might help here.> Thank you all for this amazing site! <Thank you for your kind words!> Dave Kansas City, MO. <Mich Gouldsboro, PA.> Re: Red Fuzzy Coralline? …Not likely, perhaps another Rhodophyta... BGA   8/28/07 Mich, <Hi there Dave.> Thank you, for your quick and very helpful response! <Welcome!> I have been researching your suggested algae species and I am continuing to have problems identifying which is growing in my tank. <Yes, does not look like what I was picturing in my head with out the photos.> I hope that they attached picture of the red substance growing on my glass magnet might help you take a better guess at what it is. <Mmm, pics are helpful. Is not a red tree Foram and likely not many of the algae I suggested previously, is a nuisance alga, likely a Rhodophyte, but beyond that I can't tell. Perhaps RMF will comment on the dailies page.> <<Is highly likely Cyanobacteria... a quick look under a few hundred power microscope would show the absence of nuclei, organelles, the distinctive circular DNA if higher powered... Please read on WWM re BGA... RMF>> This is the way it appears everywhere in my tank, (rock, hermit shells, powerheads) short, red, and fuzzy. <No fun. Perhaps some improvements in husbandry would help? http://www.wetwebmedia.com/nutrientcontrol.htm http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/maintenance/marineMaint.htm http://www.wetwebmedia.com/avoidingalgaeproblesm.htm > Thank you for your time, <Welcome, wish I could be more helpful. Mich> Dave Mmm, think I forgot to move an image into the emails with images folder... re: fw: re: Red Fuzzy Coralline? atten: Mich <No worries... was there somewhere. Found, posted> Also He stated earlier: It is very difficult to scrub off, and grows in high flow areas unlike cyano. <Is almost assuredly BGA... B> Re: Red Fuzzy Coralline? …Not Likely, Perhaps Another Rhodophyta... Nah, Cyanobacteria – 08/31/07 Mich, <Hi Dave.> Thank you again, for the quick and helpful reply. <You're welcome!> I was however disappointed that I could have some yucky cyano in my tank. <It happens to all of us. Glad you can't see my tank right now!> Let me give you a little background on my tank and husbandry. It's a 90-gallon reef with a medium bio-load. There is no detectable nitrites, nitrates, or ammonia. However with the phosphate test kit that I have, (which is very hard to read, maybe time for a new one.) I think I may have a slight amount of phosphate in my water, less than 5ppm (however, with the color chart its very hard to determine if its actually 0) Calcium and alkalinity are within parameters, and my ph. stays pretty steady, and high, around 8.4. I have an all-glass model 3 wet dry. <If you have a wet/dry, you most assuredly have nitrates, if your getting readings of zero it is because your algae, nuisance or macro is using it up. Yes, I do keep a close eye on my nitrates. ANS G-3 protein skimmer, which works great, and I use RO water. I religiously change 4-5 gallons of water weekly. <About twice that amount would be better.> I don't have a lot of live rock, around 75lbs, and my sand bed falls into the poor thickness range, 1 1/2 to 2 inches. <Nutrient sink and not deep enough to be very helpful with anaerobic metabolism.> So I consider myself very conscientious about my husbandry (except if it really is cyano, it has to be from me being such a sucker to my Kole tang.... he likes to eat, and I'm easy). <Heehee! Could be a contributing factor.> So when I saw that yourself and Bob both think its cyano, it really made me think about my feeding habits. <Nix the Wet/dry, deeper sandbed, add some macro, bigger or more frequent water changes...> Nevertheless, I took your advice and took a sample of it to the local high school, where my mother teaches biology and put it under a microscope. <Cool!> It took a few adjustments, but I found that this substance definitely has a cell wall and what appear to be organelles, however I could not identify a nucleus. If so, does cyano bacteria have anything that appears to be cell walls, because this substance had a definite structure? <Yes Cyanobacteria do have cell walls and although they are truly prokaryotic their internal membranes are elaborate and highly organized and may resemble organelles. The missing nucleus further suggests Cyanobacteria.> I understand its very difficult to take stabs at the millions of possibilities it could be, but your advice has been so beneficial thus far, I thought I'd put the ball back in your court. Any more guesses would AGAIN be very helpful. <As Bob suggested, is likely Cyanobacteria.> Thanks yet again, for your time and dedication to your absolutely wonderful site. <WetWebMedia is Bob's baby. I am but a minor contributor to his massive endeavor. But thank you for these kind words on behalf on Bob on the rest of the crew.><<Uh huh. RMF>> Dave <Mich> Kansas City, MO. <Gouldsboro, PA>

Purple on My Glass 1/1/07
Hello there, <Hi> I need some info on an issue with my 29 salt.
I have some light purple spots on my glass and powerhead and other things in my tank. It won't come off with the algae brush. The LFS said that it was ok, and he called it something but can't remember what he called it. It kinda of crust, it scraps off with my finger nails. Is there something that I can buy or use to get this off at least my glass?
Thanks for your info.
Cody
<Coralline algae, many scrappers available to remove it from the glass.  See http://www.wetwebmedia.com/corallinealg.htm for more.>
<Chris>

Coralline Algae/Alkaline Precipitation/Ca Reactor Tuning - 12/07/06
Hi Eric,
<<Hey Ken!>>
I hope all is well with you.
<<Indeed it is...thank you>>
Things have been going well with the tank, but I have a few questions.
<<Ok>>
The tank is set up 6 weeks now.  The few soft corals and star-polyps look good.
<<Excellent>>
I did buy a clean-up crew about 10 days ago.  I feel like I should put the snails on the payroll.  In the first two days they cleaned all of the greenish algae I had on the rocks.
<<Cool!>>
The tank looks good.  My nitrate is less than 1-ppm and phosphate is zero using LaMotte Colorimeter.
<<Very good>>
The pH is usually 8.10 to 8.20 and ORP has been about 415MV.
<<More good news>>
I also have gotten more and more pink coralline algae on some of the rocks.  My first question has to do with that in the last couple of days I am getting areas of a burgundy color on the rocks.
<<Coralline algae comes in "many" colors>>
It looks to be more on the areas that have some of the pinkish coralline.
<<Conditions in those locations are likely "optimum" for both species...everything competes for space on the reef>>
Also I notice the burgundy color is all of a sudden on a lot of the turbo snails.
<<Very common>>
Is this just another color coralline?
<<Indeed it is>>
I am hoping that it is not like red Cyano or something.
<<Can usually tell the difference>>
I don't see this on most of the rocks and none on sand, powerheads, sand etc.  I tried scraping it off with my fingernail and it does come off somewhat.  It doesn't seem as hard as the pink coralline algae.
<<Differences in structure/composition>>
I'm not sure if this is coralline or not.
<<Likely so>>
I would say that I see this burgundy color mostly on places that had pink to begin with pretty much.  My next question has to do with my AGA Mega Flow.  Their isn't really any algae on my rocks or tank, but I do have some thick greenish layers of it in the overflow box only.  Should I leave it their, or manually remove it, or can I put a couple of my turbo snails in there to eat it.
<<Can remove or leave, whichever you prefer...I would not put turbo snails in the overflow box (will probably get there sooner or later anyway, but...) as they will get in to the overflow pipes and restrict/block flow>>
I thought about snails and overflows but the Durso pipe and the return pipe are sealed unit and nothing could get in there.  What do you think?
<<If you have some kind of "screen" on the Durso then this may be fine>>
By the way, if I manually remove the algae will anything?
<<...?>>
I don't want to spread it around the tank?  Also is it possible that this algae is in its own "container" and it can act like a refugium in a way?
<<Sure...on a very small scale.  If nothing else, it is removing nutrients...but I'll bet close observation will reveal some tiny crustaceans living there as well>>
My last question and most perplexing and bothersome to me has to do with my calcium reactor.  I have an MTC Pro-Cal calcium reactor.  I don't run it all of the time as my tank is only 6 weeks old and there isn't much in the tank to take up the Alk and Ca.  When my alk gets down to 8dKH, I turn on the CO2 and run it at 1 bubble per second and the effluent at .02 ml as per the instructions.  This is their starting point.
<<And as good as any>>
I will shut of the CO2 once the alk hits 10 or 11 dKH.  My Ca usually is in the 410 to 425 ppm range.  The strange thing is that once I run the Ca reactor for a day or so, I see some of the rock (usually more evident where the coralline algae is) start to get a whitish tone to it.  It does not blow off.  Also, and more importantly, when I take a turkey baster, I can blow off what almost looks like ash.
<<Sounds as if you may have some carbonaceous material falling out of solution>>
This has happened all three times I ran it.
<<You may want to consider experimenting with different reactor media>>
I was wondering if it was calcium precipitate, but how could it be?
<<Easy enough...the water can only "hold" so much material.  Maximizing alkalinity (11dKH) and calcium (425ppm) over saturates the water with carbonaceous material.  Try test your alkalinity AND calcium after one of these events...likely BOTH have fallen as a result>>
All of the parameters are in check.  I am not using limewater or any additive and I do 20% water changes weekly with Reef Crystals.
Do you have any ideas?
<<The reactor is probably "too large" for the system (right now anyway) and is producing to much alkaline and calcium reserve than the tank can "use."  I would turn to one of the two-part alkalinity/calcium supplements for now.  Based on your future stocking levels/specimens, you may find you don't need the reactor>>
By the way, I am using CaribSea Geo Thermal aragonite for the media.
<<Mmm, I see...this product is likely soft/more soluble than others...try adjusting the reactor effluent to a pH of about 7.0 the next time you use it and see what results>>
I did buy a kalk stirrer and plan on using it with my dosing pump and float switch for top off water once I have the time to set it up in a few days.
<<Proceed with caution here...for now anyway>>
I appreciate your help.
Regards,
Ken
<<Always happy to assist.  EricR>>
 

To Be Coralline or Not To Be..... 11/11/06 Hi there, <Hi> my aquarium is newly setup and cycled with live rock and I've watched many colors change and algaes and such spread, I now have a bright red patch of algae, that just will not scrub off with a tooth brush, a lot of my rock is very deep red, and I can scrub and scrub and it wont go away, what I am curious about is this patch (on the photo) is it red coralline algae, and should I worry about it? It had grown from two dime shaped patches into one of that size in about 2 weeks! My nutrient levels are all 0ppm. Any insight you could offer would be great! ~Ryan You have been sent 3 pictures. <A little hard to tell in these photos but my guess would be that it is coralline and no need to worry about it.> <Chris>

To be coralline or not to be.....  11/12/06 Hi there, my aquarium is newly setup and cycled with live rock and ive watched many colors change and algaes and such spread, I now have a bright red patch of algae, that just will not scrub off with a tooth brush, a lot of my rock is very deep red, and I can scrub and scrub and it wont go away, what I am curious about is this patch (on the photo) is it red coralline algae, and should I worry about it? <Is coralline, not to worry> It had grown from two dime shaped patches into one of that size in about 2 weeks! My nutrient levels are all 0ppm. Any insight you could offer would be great! ~Ryan You have been sent 3 pictures. <Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/corallinealg.htm and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

Coralline algae  11/19/05
Dear Bob,
I have a bit of a stupid question. I have live rock in my tank that has been there for approx 2-3 mos. I have a 180g FOWLR. The rock is growing pink and red encrusting algae. There are areas on the rock where there is green algae growing and I am having a hard time determining if this is coralline algae. The green algae doesn't look like it is "encrusting" but when it grows on the walls of the tank it feels like fine sandpaper. On the rock, the porosity of the rock that is covered by the green is evident. Unlike the encrusting pinks where the rock is "plated" I had a piece of dead fire coral in the tank that first grew pink, then green algae. This algae is not removed very easily and it is not slimy to touch. I have noted that it is now growing in the gravel of the tank. Is this likely to be coralline ?
Jimmy
<Well... encrusting is a descriptive term... usually associated with given species of red, brown and green algae... if it's hard, rough to the touch... is "encrusting"... but coralline refers to Reds/Rhodophytes of algae species... and these do look red, unless bleached (then white). Bob Fenner> 

Red coralline VS Cyanobacteria
Hi guys, hope you are all well. <Hi and thank you we are all well and happy.>
I am in the process of upgrading my tank after a near total loss, so I let the tank sit with minimal maintenance for several weeks (which did good- the corals I have left all have come out in full). <Sometimes less is more.>  I have had red-slime problems in the past, and I would siphon it out and blow it off the rocks with a turkey baster.<That is a good practice but I would use the baster first then siphon it out.>  I cannot blow this red stuff off the rocks, its hard to  brush off with a toothbrush (even with toothpaste-:)) it "feathers"  off the rock (like tree fungi), and is nearly the same color as Cyano.  Is  it red coralline? <It is absolutely coralline algae.  If you want to be sure take it out and put it into some vinegar.  If it bubbles then your are in business.>
Thanks for being there to answer oddball questions! <Not a problem! MikeB>
James

- Questions: Is It Coralline? Or Is It Cyanobacteria? -
Hello.
I've started the hobby for about 6 months.
Now I have:
2 yellow tail damsels
1 fire damsel (mean little buggah, constantly fighting with or getting picked on by one of the yellow tail)
1 clown fish
1 yellow tang
1 blue tang
1 cleaner shrimp
4 brittle stars
4 turbo snails
I recently notice a bunch of white critters on my glass...the fire damsel has been picking on these for awhile since I got him. And now the pods are everywhere which I'm assuming is good? <Yes.> During the whole time I started I don't have a sump nor skimmer.
my first water change was a month ago...since then I do a 5 gallon water change once a week or more depends. As of now, I notice red pinkish patches on my rocks. The patches aren't very thick... just a very light covering. I was thinking it was Cyanobacteria (something I shouldn't want?) My cousin said it might be coralline algae and the only coralline are on the tips of my turbo snails (I could be wrong) or the water I've been getting. And I don't know what I've been doing to promote coralline. <It happens [or not] on its own... in presence of adequate calcium.> I do however have a killer green algae farm growing on the right side of my tank just for my tangs just until I can put together more rocks to start on coral. 
If it is coralline, is it possible for one color coralline changing to another color? <Not usually. A quick note: in the future, please don't send along such large images. They clog our inbox and then block other's email from coming in. Thanks... cheers, J -- >