red algea ID

[amairman]

Hi all, I have this red algea speading in my tank, and I cant seem to get an ID on it. Its like a velvet carpet. I didnt want to mess with it untill I could get some info on it. Thank you!

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[bertoni]

Are you sure it's an alga? It could be a sponge, although it does seem to prefer lighted areas. You could try in the algae forum, but identification of such organisms often isn't practical for hobbyists.

 

[MarkGP]

looks like cyanobacteria to me!

 

[amairman]

So it is red slime algae then, thanks! I just read up on cyanobacteria, and will adjust accordingly. I just wasnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t sure because I was told to use a turkey baster to blow it off the rocks, but its too thick, this has no affect. Is there another safe way to remove it? Oh, I didnt know there was a algae forum, should this be moved to it? Thanks again!

 

[Swanwillow]

if it doesn't blow off, or come off easily, I'd guess its not cyano: does it come FAST? or is it fairly slow growing?

you can just go on down there and ask... to me, it almost looks like corraline, I used to have some dark red stuff like that...

 

[Paintbug]

if it doesnt just blow right off with a baster, then its not cyano. it looks like either red coralline algae, or an encrusting sponge.

 

[bertoni]

You could try prying up a piece of it and dumping it into vinegar. If it fizzes, it likely contains calcium carbonate. If not, I'd guess sponge, but a macroscope would probably tell the tale more accurately.

 

[mrmustard]

If it's nice and slimy it's probably cyano, from what I have been learning. My LFS gave me this stuff called Chemi Clear. I used it and it has drastically reduced the amount of red slime algae in my tank.

 

[amairman]

Its not slimy, you really have to scrape at it with a fingernail to get it off. Its spreading pretty good, I just got back from a 6 month deployment, and its throughout the tank, and we didnt have it when I left. I dont have vinegar, but I will get some to find out. If its red coralline would it be covering up the purple coralline? Again, Thanks for all the help, you guys are great!

 

[ycrazyy]

I have something that looks almost identical on one of my rocks and I believe it is just corraline. It doesn't blow off either and is slow growing. It's on a rock that also has purple and some blue corraline on it. Came from the LFS with the red and spread a tiny bit onto the rock next to it.