Wood Tick Looking Little Balls???

[sleons]

My 100 reef tank is about 9 months old doing good. I now have about 100 to 200 little egg looking balls through out it. Some are very small and others are the size of a dime. They look like wood ticks. Does anyone know what they are? Are they harmful?

 

[escape2thewater]

can you post a picture?

 

[sleons]

This photo is not to good but I don't know how to get my photos down to 500 x 500. I did it in paint. Let me know.

 

[007]

valonia or bubble algae.

 

[offshore80]

Looks like bubble algae to me.

 

[sleons]

Is it a problem?

 

[bigarn]

Originally posted by Sleons
Is it a problem?
If not controlled it can spread pretty quickly and choke out corals. Try some emerald crabs, they usually eat it.

 

[dburr]

That is just 1 piece of live rock, right? I would just take it out and pop the algae, rinse it off under fresh water and let it dry out for a month.
1 rock, you wont miss it much and that stuff can spread and spoil your reef if it pops in the tank. Thats what I would do.

 

[vibe]

i would just get an emerald crab or 2.
dburr- notice the polyps.....
anyways its not much of a problem, some stores actually try to sell pieces of rock with that stuff on it and they call it "sea pearl". it makes me laugh when people buy it. anyway emerald crab is suggested.:yes:

 

[devilboy]

yea i would try an emerald crab. mine does a pretty good job when the bubbles start to sprout up.
i almost bought a green pearl bubble a couple of weeks ago until the dude at the LFS picked it up and underneath i seen about 5 aiptasias sprouting out. and i told him i didnt want it. was trying to tell me that they were little rock anemones.

 

[sleons]

Thanks for the advice. The algae is throughout the tank so I will try the emerald crab.
Thanks

 

[007]

another vote for an emerald crab. They will clean it up for good in no time flat.

 

[sleons]

I have a Blennie which is an algae eater. I wonder why he doesn't eat it?

 

[007]

doesn't fancy his palate . . .