Is this the beginning of Coralline Algae?

Discussion in 'Algae' started by Kllrfsh, Oct 4, 2010.

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  1. Kllrfsh

    Kllrfsh Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

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    Sep 17, 2010
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    Location:
    Missouri
    Howdy all! I just wanted to see if this is the beginning of Coralline algae or the dreaded red slime algae. My snails don't seem to like to eat it and it's also begun to grow near my heater on the glass. It's not easily removed, I rubbed on some of it and didn't really dislodge any. Sorry for the low res pics, had to snap these with the cell, the kiddo seems to have "misplaced" the camera.

    I couldn't find any "beginning" stages of coralline pictures... Thanks in advance for any help.

    Water Parameters:
    1.026 Salinity
    0 Nitrates
    0 Nitrites
    0 Ammonia
    450 Calcium
    8.3 pH
    9.0 Alk

    Cheers!
     

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  3. steve wright

    steve wright Super Moderator

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    kllrfsh

    I believe what you have there is red cyno bacteria rather than the early stages of coralline
    there seems to be to much of it in the same stage of development for it to be coralline

    most of my tanks have seen coralline growing on plastics and acrylic 1st and it normally takes the form of small circles that expand and then blurr into 1 large area

    Steve
     
  4. Kllrfsh

    Kllrfsh Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

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    Thanks Steve!

    I was thinking that, it seemed to come on WAY too fast. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to remove it, the snails really don't seem to dig it too much, at least not on the base rock.

    Thanks again.
     
  5. M-Ocean Man

    M-Ocean Man Flame Angel

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    Agreed - looks like red cyano

    Normal for a cycling tank.
     
  6. steve wright

    steve wright Super Moderator

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  7. Magnus

    Magnus Sharknado

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    +1 on Steve's ID. Looks like Cyano Bacteria.
    I had some of it when I fist set up my tank and I removed it by hand as much as I could and then Added a power head, since Cyano does not seem to like flow. So, remove by hand first, then add the power head so it doesn't fly all over the tank.

    As you do this, it is also a good idea to cut your light cycle. For example, if you keep your lights on for 8 hours, cut it down to 6 hours, if you keep it on for 6 hrs, cut it down to 4, etc. What you want to see is the algae starting to retreat and then you can slowly resume your light cycle.

    The last thing you can do, is feed just a little bit and every other day. Cyano and other nuisance algaes like the excess nutrients in the water. If you have a protein skimmer, you can set it up for wet skimming and this will help get rid of some of the decomposed mater in the water.

    That's about it. Is this a relatively new setup tank?
     
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  9. gazog

    gazog Kole Tang

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    If it blows off the rocks its Cryno, if it doesn't its not.
    Raising the amount of flow will help reduce it, as will
    lowering your photo period or the length of time the lights
    are on.

    I would raise the flow and wait and see what time brings you,
    as thetank matures it should go away.
     
  10. Kllrfsh

    Kllrfsh Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

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    Location:
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    Magno - The tank has been set up for about 6 months and seems to have already cycled earlier. The algae is still growing even near the powerheads but it isn't easily removed or blowing around from the powerheads.

    I've been careful not to overfeed the fishys, I feed them every other day and only what they can collect in about 2 minutes, I haven't observed a great deal of waste.

    Me thinks the lighting could be the culprit. I've been working extended hours though and haven't been able to really track it. I'll set my timers for about 2 hours less and see if that helps recede it. If not, I read another thread that suggested cleaning the rock off in a bucket of saltwater then reintroducing to the tank, I just want to be sure that it won't come back, so I'll have to keep playing around until I can find the trigger for it...

    Thanks for all the advice/heads up!

    Thanks for the links too!