is it coralline or red slime crap

[chingchong]

see pictures...
tank is 4 month old... coralline started to spread out on rocks ...

 

[chingchong]

another close up

 

[chingchong]

yet another one

 

[who dey]

last pic is making me think it's coraline, and not cyanobacteria. keep an eye on it

 

[tizzo]

I was thinking the same. The first pic looks like cyano, the second looks like you need to get your blue leg off of that snail.
And the third looks like red and green coraline. But it's hard to tell with out wiping a finger on it.

 

[chingchong]

i thought it was cyanobacteria ... but it's mixed with the green coralline i guess ... i dunno ...
what about whipping my finger on it ?
if it's slimy it's cyano ?

 

[who dey]

move some of your substrate to see if it is stuck like glue to the glass if so then it's coraline

 

[tizzo]

Yeah, if it wipes off it ain't coraline. You need a razor blade to get that crap off!! It looks like coraline on that shell in the backround, if it is then you can see how hard it is.

 

[tizzo]

This looks like coraline...

 

[chingchong]

i put my finger in it ... and it wiped off ... so it should be cyano ...
how do i proceed from here...
i have corals and fish in the tank

 

[chingchong]

tizzo, these are seaweed

i know i know hard to tell from the pictures ... but i have coraline growing on rocks ... i'll take a picture tomorrow.

 

[who dey]

check nitrates adn phosphates

 

[tizzo]

Are you serious!! That looks just like coraline from here. How funny.
If it is cyano, don't panic. I don't think I've seen a tank yet with out a little under the sand.
Make sure your phosphates and trates are 0 like who dey said, and I would add to your clean up crew to stir the sand some more. Cerith snails are cool!

 

[chingchong]

hehe i m dead serious ... its seaweed :hilarious
po4 and trates = 0
i have 2 seio m620, a fluval 304 that feed to a HOB fuge, where i want to grow pods ... but i haven't seen any ... guess the scooter has been taking care of them ...
the seio ph are turned to 50% at least ... but i m thinking to turn them to max burn i m scared that i may blow the sand in the center of the tank ...
i have like 20 hermits left, 2 turbo, couple astrea ... astreas kept dying as they fall off the glass on their 'back'

 

[chingchong]

i increased the flow from the seio ... so they are now running at their max (620gph) ... that give me a 22x turnover ...
and i reduced light schedule to be on from 12pm to 11pm.
anything else i should do ... i don't want to put any chemical ... and these pink patches a visible only against the glass, nothing is actually is the middle or on the top of the sand, or on the rock

 

[acekjd83]

it looks like cc substrate/sand? in the places with more cc, there are spaces where the organic wastes get caught and decompose, and create nitrate pockets where the algaes thrive. you can have perfect tank conditions, but the larger your substrate, the more pockets will develop, and more substrate algae. they arent harmful, since the pockets will leak and the nitrates will be diluted and removed, but the algae sure isnt pretty. you can sort of alleviate the problem by having more burrowing and sifting organisms, but, like i said, they arent harmful

 

[chingchong]

yep you're right .. i have 2in of sugar sized sand and 2in of reef sand.
i m planning on buying more snails ... astrea kept dying and arent doing a great job.
blue hermits are a PITA and scarlets are bunch of weirdos