Figured this was as good a place as any to post this. I see people often asking if green algae growth is coralline or not. @Todvod above and @Emmanuel Zamora in another thread.
Our tank is pretty new and was started with live rock. We have several spots where new coralline algae is growing. Much of it is green. In many spots, the green growth is turning purple. Sometimes we also get new pink and purple coralline growth directly. We even get orange occasionally, but sometimes what looks like orange is purple beginning to bleach. Growth is coming in many places while some are bleaching as the new tank matures and approaches stability.
If you are trying to determine if new growth is coralline see if it is hard to scrape off. If that dark red new algae growth comes right off and feels slimy it is probably Cyanobacteria. If it is hard, it is probably coralline. Same thing if it is green or any color. If it is hard, it is probably coralline. Remember coralline algae is calcareous. In the ocean, and our tanks, it is the cement that holds the reef together.
My daughter was asking me about it today and she pointed out some great examples in our tank. These images are not great quality, but you will get the idea.
This area here clearly shows a spot turning purple among his green spotted siblings on the black Starboard
In this picture, the white spots in the larger blob of coralline are actually very purple in person. Poor photo, but the spot is turning from green to purple
Here is a shot of the rocks. You can see the deep pink to purple coralline that came with the rock. Between the spots of purple on the left, and along the bottom of the spots on the right, you can see new growth coming in in green.
Hope the pictures are decent enough to help folks see.
Our tank is pretty new and was started with live rock. We have several spots where new coralline algae is growing. Much of it is green. In many spots, the green growth is turning purple. Sometimes we also get new pink and purple coralline growth directly. We even get orange occasionally, but sometimes what looks like orange is purple beginning to bleach. Growth is coming in many places while some are bleaching as the new tank matures and approaches stability.
If you are trying to determine if new growth is coralline see if it is hard to scrape off. If that dark red new algae growth comes right off and feels slimy it is probably Cyanobacteria. If it is hard, it is probably coralline. Same thing if it is green or any color. If it is hard, it is probably coralline. Remember coralline algae is calcareous. In the ocean, and our tanks, it is the cement that holds the reef together.
My daughter was asking me about it today and she pointed out some great examples in our tank. These images are not great quality, but you will get the idea.
This area here clearly shows a spot turning purple among his green spotted siblings on the black Starboard
In this picture, the white spots in the larger blob of coralline are actually very purple in person. Poor photo, but the spot is turning from green to purple
Here is a shot of the rocks. You can see the deep pink to purple coralline that came with the rock. Between the spots of purple on the left, and along the bottom of the spots on the right, you can see new growth coming in in green.
Hope the pictures are decent enough to help folks see.
