ID please

[sirreal63]

I have what I feel is an algae but have never seen algae this green before. It looks just like green flourescent paint...it is that bright. My snails don't eat it. My concern is it is cyano, but it is only on a few pcs of live rock, no where else in the tank. Any ideas? This tank is only 6 weeks old, which is why I was thinking cyano. The other algaes have come and decreased, the snails helped, but this one has me stumped...it is so vibrant.

 

[Mariner]

Looks like cyano. Does it have air bubbles in areas where it's thickest?
Mariner

 

[sirreal63]

No bubbles and it only appears where the light shines. Shaded areas are not affected.

The tank is a 29 gallon, 10 gallon fuge, 220 watts pc 50/50 bulbs, ammonia, nitrate are zero. nitrate is 5ppm and going down, air driven AMiracle skimmer that is working wonderfully, I use Purigen and Kent Nitrate sponge. Livestock is 2 black mollies used to cycle the tank, a small Percula, small Purple Firefish, small Strawberry Pseudochromis, 3 Pepermint shrimp, 1 Arrow Crab and several varieties of snails, turbo's, Nassarius and 3 large ones which I forget the names of. Tank was seeded with 5 lbs of live sand from LFS's established tank. 50 lbs of aragonite in the main tank, 20 lbs in the fuge. 60 lbs of live rock. I drip Kalk at the rate of 1 drop per 3 seconds. The coraline has started to really take off...about the same time as this neon green stuff has.

Oh...ph is 8.4 to 8.5

 

[sirreal63]

Another shot...just took this one...my camera skills are getting better. lol

 

[kmk2307]

sirreal63,

Based on the bright green color I'm going to guess that is a chlorophycean green microalgae that is growing on your rock. Is it growing on glass or non calcium carbonate stuff at all?

Kevin

 

[sirreal63]

No it isn't on the glass or anything else. It did notice a few spots in the aragonite today...very small. Is this something I need to worry about, and if so, how do I deal with it?

Thanks for the heads up too.

 

[kmk2307]

I don't think it is something that will really take off. Has your tank been set up long? It will probably be replaced by another algae as your tank's algae go through succession.

Kevin

 

[sirreal63]

Tank has been running 7 weeks now, this stuff appeared right after I started dosing a small amount of Kalk, but that may be a coincidence. The coraline growth has exploded though. I'll do a decent sized water change today and see what happens in a few days to a week.

Thanks for the help.