Red dots all over live rock

[Morrisons]

I have noticed these red dots that have formed all over my live rock and want to know what it is, is it good or bad? My tank is a 55 gal with 20 gal sump, 60lbs live rock, t5 high output lighting, 1 1/2inch sand bed, flow seems to be medium, all of my water levels are good exept for my calcium which is very high at 490. Tank has only been up and running for a little more than 3 months now. The dark red spots on my live rock dont come off that easily unless I use a sharp edge or knife. The dots dont look fuzzy, they look more hard like they are part of the rock. Anyone know what it is? Left pics below, thanks!

 

[cloak]

Do they protrude from the rocks at all, or does it look like somebody just took a paintbrush and painted them on?

If they're protruding, they might be Foraminiferans. (harmless) If not, maybe Coralline algae.

 

[acabgd]

Might be coralline, but look more like diatoms to me. But again, could be coralline.

 

[Morrisons]

They are not protruding at all. They are flat and rounded spots all scattered on the rock. Any idea what it can be?

 

[Morrisons]

What is diatoms? Is that bad?

 

[cloak]

Being that they don't come off the rocks easily, it's probably Coralline algae. This comes in all kinds of different colors. Purple, pink & red being the most prominent.

 

[Morrisons]

Ok, I do have some small coralline algae spots on my rock that are purple and they look completely different from the red spots

 

[Morrisons]

So should this be anything to be concerned about?

 

[cloak]

No worries.

http://www.algone.com/coralline-algae-naturally-grow-on-live-rock

 

[ca1ore]

Hang on ... Certainly may be coraline algae, which is almost inevitable and a good thing. But I cannot really tell from the pictures. It also could be red planaria worms, which can escalate into a real problem. Take a close look, if they have a vague hourglass shape to them then I'd say flatworms (though typically flatworms come off pretty easily). Worth making sure!

 

[FraggledRock]

Maybe red corralline, or red hair algae.

 

[Nina51]

It also could be red planaria worms

this was my first thought when i saw the pics.

try using a turkey baster and see if the "spots" will blow off the rocks. if they do, consider flat worms. i had a pretty bad infestation of them. my vrolik's wrasse has pretty much cleaned my tank of them.

 

[Flame_Angels]

my rocks looked like that for a while then the spots visibly spread and im sure its coraline. imo its harmless red coraline.

 

[Morrisons]

Ok, I did just realize that when I look behind or underneath a rock where the light does not seem to hit that there are no red dots. Only where the light hits there are red dots which is basically everywhere exept a couple spots. Does that mean it still might be red coralline?

 

[FraggledRock]

Ok, I did just realize that when I look behind or underneath a rock where the light does not seem to hit that there are no red dots. Only where the light hits there are red dots which is basically everywhere exept a couple spots. Does that mean it still might be red coralline?

More than likely. Coralline needs light to grow

 

[Jessesoto33]

Grab a blue light and shine it on the read spots if they glow its Coraline algae

 

[Nothinghead]

So what did this turn out to be? I am seeing the exact same thing.