Help me Id this pls.

[Mike40065]

Hi all. Hope someone can clarify this for me. Tank been setup for 7 days. Bought some live rock to seed. Lfs told me this was coraline. I think it's slime algae. Please help a noob. The purple stuff

 

[Crooked Reef]

Looks like coralline. If it's hard it is, if it's soft and comes off it's cyano.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Or are you asking about the small polyps? They could be zoas or palys.

 

[Mike40065]

its the purple stuff... it does come off but is kinda slimy been dark for 3 days and no change blast it with a 6095 tunze and doesnt blow off... its brand new tank with no nutrients being added... just bought this rock

 

[Mike40065]

it doesnt come off sorry

 

[Mike40065]

i can scape off with fingernail

 

[postaldave]

Looks like coralline. If it's hard it is, if it's soft and comes off it's cyano.

this

 

[Mike40065]

can i remove rock scrape it off and return to tank?

 

[taby15]

Not sure if you would want to scrape of coral line algae. For many it's a desired algae.

 

[JUNBUG361]

+4 on coralline algae

 

[CrayolaViolence]

The presence of coralline is a sign of healthy water.

 

[rajilnaja]

I always get a little jealous when I see people posting with all this high quality live rock, with corlline and some polpys. thats great stuff!

 

[Echo2]

It's good stuff. I wouldn't scrap it off.

 

[Mike40065]

if its slimy and comes off with finger nail it is ok??? im confused... ive blackouted the aquarium for 24 hours now

 

[Ron Reefman]

Coraline can feel slimy, it's an algae after all. And it can be scrapped off, some day you'll be scrapping some off the front glass! But it's not harmful to anything in the tank.

Cyano is a bacteria and is very soft and can be easily blown off the rock or sand with a turkey baster. It's most likely to start on the sand, almost 'floating' a tiny fraction of an inch off the sand. It's less likely to start on rocks unless you have a serious bloom.

I'd bet serious money you have coraline algae and I wouldn't do anything to remove it. It's harmless and adds some color and nitrate and phosphate removal (minimal) to your tank.

 

[SALTYwaterDOG]

If you don't like Coraline on your rock work, a black spine urchin will make quick work of it.
Happy reefing