What in the world is this stuff????

[quikcolin]

Hey everyone,

I have a small piece of live rock in my tank (it's been in the tank for about 1 week).  I've noticed that it's becoming darker and darker (in a "purple kind of way") over the last few days.  I have now noticed there are little purple hairs waving in the current of the tank now...  Is this some kind of purple allege?  Is it good?  Bad?

Here are the pics (if they aren't big enough, you can access zoom ins directly from my photobucket account at:

http://s557.photobucket.com/home/quikcolin/index

This one shows the fine purple hairs best:

And another

And another one

Finally here is one of the rock the day I introduced it to the tank... you can see that it's half as "purple" as it is today

I'm in the midst of my cycle (ammonia is at about 2.0ppm) and i have a raw shrimp decomposing in the tank too (just incase that has anything to do with it, thought I'd share).  Also my temp is at 80 degrees...

Thanks in advance for your help  

 

[chablonski]

looks like red algae correct me if im wrong.

 

[shayneh]

Blue-green or red slime... AKA cyanobacteria. Although it's not abnormal to get in a new set up here is an article on preventing it from getting out of hand.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/20/1/Cyanobacteria-AKA-Red-Slime-Algae-/Page1.html

 

[Blob-79]

hm go figure..think you may have gotten some of my red graceria (spelling?) algae. no worries, ur fish will eat it as soon as you put them in pretty much. Looks like your getting some cyano bacteria growing on the rock a bit too. If you can, put it in direct flow. (ie. point your powerhead at it ) This rock was from my sump...its not used to good lighting....if you see a white nudibranch with little fingers all over the place..tell him to call home...hes been missing

shayneh I think the rock has 2 different things on it..look at the very bottom of the first pic...little sprout of hairy red stuff

 

[quikcolin]

Thanks guys lol  I can't believe how fast it's spreading.  This afternoon there were a few "hairs" and now there are about 40 of them!  Its crazy lol

There is def. Flownin thar corner, so much so that the sand is always kicked up (as u can see the sand on the corner of the rock).

I read that article, lots of good info.  Sounds like due to the fact that bacteria is high in my cycle right now, it's loving it, and growing like mad.  Im not sure what else I can do?  The flow is strong?... Maybe I can try and point the power head directly on it... I'll move the rock...

 

[quikcolin]

I just noticed that there are a lot of bubbles forming under the allege, then bubbling to the surface  ???

 

[Blob-79]

yup..was just about to type that


you'll find at the end of your daily light cycle, it will get bubbly under the algae and some will tend to float to the top. before this happens is the time to remove it. It will be a thick mat like consistancy. keeping it in high flow will prevent this from happening at all though

 

[xxmurrxx]

When I cycled I had different types of algae's coming out of the woodwork.
Most went away on it's own.  The rest I ran some phosphate removing media and it went away.

 

[Cal_stir]

the bubbles indicate denitrification so it is prob cyano, should cycle out as your benificial bacteria develops.

 

[quikcolin]

I've read to stick it in a bowl of water, and scrub it off - think I should?

 

[quikcolin]

Hows this!

Stuck the bastard directly in front of the powerhead lol

 

[quikcolin]

I took it out and scrubbed it with a new clean toothbrush in RO water.  It's directly in front of the powerhead... Hope it helps!

 

[Blob-79]

ya..shoulda told you to point the powerhead right at it when i gave it to you. not only to ward off cyano, but to spread the good stuff.

a rock from a sump isnt totally the same as a rock from the display, In my experience if you take a rock from your sump and put it in your display, couple days later its blooming a little bit. But dont worry, itll go away.

 

[quikcolin]

Done and done . I have scrubbed it down, and positioned it directly in front of the powerhead.  Should I have to worry about the powerhead spreading the cyano around?

 

[shayneh]

Thanks guys lol  I can't believe how fast it's spreading.  This afternoon there were a few \"hairs\" and now there are about 40 of them!  Its crazy lol

There is def. Flownin thar corner, so much so that the sand is always kicked up (as u can see the sand on the corner of the rock).

I read that article, lots of good info.  Sounds like due to the fact that bacteria is high in my cycle right now, it's loving it, and growing like mad.  Im not sure what else I can do?  The flow is strong?... Maybe I can try and point the power head directly on it... I'll move the rock...

Just keep up with maintenance and it should clear as water parameters stabilize and your beneficial bacteria populate the various regions of the tank (aerobic and anerobic). I have also seen blooms pop up when the lights start to shift spectrum (get old) but I assume since this is a new set up the lights are not the culprit. I wouldn't recommend adding anything else until the cyano has cleared either as more food/waste=more cyano.

You soon young grasshoppa will understand the mantra for this hobby  "Go slow, nothing good happens fast with reef tanks" LOL!

 

[Blob-79]

I wouldn't recommend adding anything else until the cyano has cleared either as more food/waste=more cyano.

Keep in mind he hasnt actually added anything yet. Just rotting shrimp In my oppinion, as soon as his ammonia is down, he needs to make his first additions(fish) and remove the rotting shrimp. Regardless of cyano. Its possible the cyano is feeding off dying bacteria in the rock that I gave him. If he holds off, his cycle will just be drawn out longer then it needs to be.

 

[quikcolin]

Hahahaha, I hear that a lot!  The slower the better!

Well the purple is "gone" (most likely still there, but I did scrub it off last night).  Now I'm seeing tiny brown patches on my sand bed, and small yellow/gold spots forming all over my Eco Reefer rock, all of this is a new development since last night.

I checked my parameters and the ammonia is at about 2ppm and the nitrate and nitrite are at zero.  Quick question: won't my ammonia stay high until I remove the decaying raw shrimp that is in the tank?  Does the bacteria from that shrimp cause the ammonia spike?  At the rate it's decaying it could take another month for it to "disappear"

???

 

[Blob-79]

your ammonia is still at 2? its been there for what 3-4 days? Correct me if im wrong, but you already saw a nitrite spike and now its at 0?
The ammonia shouldnt stay high, it should go to 0. basicaly your bacteria will eat all the ammonia, and balance its population in proportion to how much ammonia is being produced. Considering, every test you have done for ammonia has read 2..and you nitrite has already spiked, I would guess that your ammonia test is a little off. IMO cycling with shrimp, is always iffy, hard to see cycles and all that. IMO add a clown and be done with it
the brown patches sound like diatoms..normal stuff in a new tank.

 

[quikcolin]

Yep, I just checked it again this morning (its soo damn hard to tell what color the liquid in the test tube is as compared to the damn card  ) but from what I can tell it's still 2.0ppm (the same color of green it was the last two times I checked it).  As for the Nitrite... I'm again having a difficult time determining what the actual color of the test is... API can kiss my a$$    Nitrate is forsure 0.  Nitrite is... well either zero or just above that...  from what I can tell.  So who knows what's happened up to this point lol

grrr. soo confusing.  If I add a clown now, with the ammonia so "high" it will really bother the clown won't it?

 

[xxmurrxx]

Yes it would bother the fish.
I would just give it time, unless your test is bunk (which it probably is not) the ammonia will drop.

I did the shrimp method too, after hitting high ammonia i removed the shrimp.