what type of algae is this??

whiner2

whiner2

Member
hello. I have a question about the algae covering the LR in my 29 gallon tank. I have about 35 lbs of it and half is covered with a reddish/dark purple algae? while the other half is covered with a green looking substance. each half of the 35 lbs were bought a different LFS. the red stuff i believe is from fiji, the other - who knows? can you please let me know what it is and if it is beneficial/harmful to my tank?
Tank has been in cycle for a little over a week w/no animals. Not in a hurry either. Also, there are little tiny white worms embedded on the rocks, but they have not moved at all. Any thought?
no pics, sorry. image i guess is too big for message.
Also, head good stuff about corraline, thought maybe i have it. Sorry for all the q's but still a newbie here...
 
viper_930

viper_930

Active Member
Is the reddish/ dark purple algea hard and flat on the rocks? If so then it is probably coraline.
To post a pic it needs to be less than 500 pixels. Just use some photo program to resize it.
 
whiner2

whiner2

Member
yes it is! the same with the green stuff. no real algae to speak of. good bad ?
and still trying to work the cpu with the image...
 
T

thomas712

Guest
Looks like good encrusting coralline algae to me.
That means your lighting is enough,
Your alk, cal and mag are in good shape.
But just to be sure you may need to send some scrapings to me :thinking:
Just kidding.
Thomas
 
whiner2

whiner2

Member
haha. thanks. glad to see that i am doing this well so early. just ending 2nd week of cycle. amonia is still a little high {.25 ppm} but nitrate and nitrite seem minimal. have 1 raw shrimp in there for about 3 days now to get the cycle going good.. is it time to remove it?
 
T

thomas712

Guest
hmmm. Re read your first post again. Seems I forgot you were just cycling.
So the coralline came with the rock and you are cycling with it. Depending on how much liverock you got and if it was fully cured this could prevent really wild spikes and help you to cycle faster. Give it another day or two on the shrimp then remove, this should make sure that you have challenged the cycle really well. Your nitrite phase should be jumping any day now.
After you complete your cycle then I would do a 30% water change to rebalance alk, cal, and mag and other trace elements, and to remove any built up nitrates if they get bad.
As to the live rock, not knowing your lights then you may also find that it will fade and whiten over the next few weeks. It happens. So get Alkalinity and Calcium test kits. Pick a good synthetic sea salt for your water changes. I have found Instant Ocean to sometimes be lacking in magnesium and have to add it constantly, but then my coral bio load is most likely much more than yours right now.
Good luck and keep us posted.
Thomas
 
whiner2

whiner2

Member
:D thanks alot. you guys have been really helpfull on helping me out with all my questions. i will defitnetly keep you posted and update you with pics as soon as it is more developed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top