white algae ?? on lr

marty

marty

Member
What is this? Is it good? I have recently added some lr to my tank and now I am seeing this white algae on the rock. I hope it is a good thing. Is it? Thanks!
 
thewolfman777

thewolfman777

Member
i am not a l/r expert or anything but it may be corraline algae. a better description would help a bit more, but IMO i would say it is a good thing :D
 
marty

marty

Member
Not sure if this is a better description, but I will try. It is white, kind of like a blotch of paint dropped/splattered on a peice. Other places seems to be more just like the rock turned white. Can't really see an edge to it like the blotch above.
Hope this helps.
 
thewolfman777

thewolfman777

Member
so it kind of appears as a coating and you can see some kind of thickness to it? if so, i think it may be white corraline algae. it is cool (if it is) i it will eventually spread to other areas of your l/r too.
 
fshhub

fshhub

Active Member
it does sound like coraline, and it will spread, depending on your light, and circ and water, it may turn color to green or a red shade, but that is fine
 
thewolfman777

thewolfman777

Member
ebeckels, how can you tell if corraline is dead or not??? <img src="graemlins//confused.gif" border="0" alt="[confused]" />
 
fshhub

fshhub

Active Member
coraline as it dies or grows will show whithish and there are real light yellow(almost white) shades of coraline algae, and their growth depends on lighting and circulation both, normally white(or yellowish)does not flourish in home aquariums due to it's light needs, not being within those of the normal home aquarium
 
marty

marty

Member
Thanks for the replies. Not sure if it is dead, but it could be as I the rock is newly added. On the other hand, I didn't notice it before. But I am glad to hear that it is a good thing. Thanks again.
 
broomer5

broomer5

Active Member
If you have live rock that is covered with coralline - and you notice a portion of the pink or purple that is turning white - chances are the coralline algae is dying off - and what you are seeing, for a lack of a better word, is it's calcium carbonate under skeleton.
Encrusting calcareous algea such as coralline, do indeed have a calcium carbonate layer of which it's living tissue ( the visible colored portion that we normally see ) grows on top of.
Hence the need for calcium - WOW - go figure ;)
If this is actually new coralline growth, as fshub stated, it may also appear as a whitish color, but normally will be in the form of a ring, with some pinkish/purple coloring on the inner of this ring. Sort of white on the edges as it starts spreading.
I've seen purples, deep reds, common pinks, a spot of orange on some nice rock I had - but the orange faded and died fast. A little green on some other rock - but once again - it didn't really take off and grow much either and faded a month or so later :(
 
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