Algae ?

[therock0861]

I have a real deep marron algae and green algae spreading on my live rock quite rapidly it doesn't look the same as the purple coraline algae it is maroon but is still quite attractive any ideas what this may be?

 

[bernadette616]

How long did it take you to cycle your tank with the bio wheel filter???

 

[therock0861]

A little over 3 weeks. I added that Cycle stuff but don't think it was worth it in the long run. If you have high ammonia levels it really helps though. I found that a day after adding the Cycle ammonia dropped dramatically.

 

[therock0861]

Any one have any other input?

 

[fshhub]

is it hairy , leafy or like a coating, like coraline??

 

[therock0861]

It is like a coating over the rocks and stuff it is quite attractive.

 

[fshhub]

probably coraline, if it has no shpae except that of the rock it covers,it comes in many shades and colors,the lighitng will be the biggest determining factor for color,
you can have red, purple, green yellow white, to name a few,adn diffferent shades of each

 

[therock0861]

Cool Thanx for the help.

 

[fshhub]

whoa there, i may have goofed, spreading rapidly??
can you syphon it off? or move it
if so, i t is probably diatoms, very common in a new tank adn will pass
but coraline is a hard coating, which you can only chip offf, it is fast to the rock

 

[therock0861]

It is not loose and cannot be siphoned it is clung to the rock I would probably have to scrape it off to remove it.

 

[mr . salty]

At first I thought it was most likly red slime.But you say it can NOT be easily brushed off??? Red slime looks alot like what you are describing,but brushes off quite easily.You can also use a turkey baster to remove "slime"...Are you sure it is attached as stubbornly as you think????Coraline algae does not spread as quickly as you describe.It DOES sound more like some sort of "problem" algae...

 

[therock0861]

It has grown brighter in color and perhaps I led you to believe it is spreading faster than it is. It isn't consuming anything and I say rapidly because i know how slow you must take things to do things the right way. I just doudle checked and could't scrape it off with my finger nail. It is very attractive and has green in it too.