Pareidolia & bright red algae????

[itselenababe]

I got a bit lazy with cleaning the algae off one of our tanks and now it looks like there’s an algae man living in our tank! My phone really isn’t doing it justice in this pic

We thought it was really cool so we left it but now there are bright red/pink dots appearing on the decor. Is that normal? The algae went from the brown colour to green and now the dots are showing up. I’m thinking the algae on the back that appears brown may actually be red as well?

 

[itselenababe]

Bump

 

[NashobaTek]

Possibly cyano, but how old is the tank?

 

[Johnny C]

I’m new at all of this so I have no clue. But the algae guy is very interesting

 

[Tathamet]

I’m fairly new to this myself but it looks like your tank is quite new. the green and brown I believe are the normal ugly stage you get when starting a new tank.

As for the red and pink my guess is Cyanobacteria but It could possibly be coralline algae. can you blow it off or is it stuck and hard?

 

[itselenababe]

Possibly cyano, but how old is the tank?

About 2 months

 

[monti mike]

Ha! That’s kind of fun! I didn’t see it at first but it does look like a face! Your tank looks pretty new (white rocks) so I’d also vote cyano algae man

 

[NashobaTek]

Part of the uglies, red cyano blow it off and siphon or net out of the tank.

 

[itselenababe]

I’m fairly new to this myself but it looks like your tank is quite new. the green and brown I believe are the normal ugly stage you get when starting a new tank.

As for the red and pink my guess is Cyanobacteria but It could possibly be coralline algae. can you blow it off or is it stuck and hard?

it seems to be stuck on there. I tried “blowing“ at it with my finger and nothing changed. It’s right under the filter as well so if it could be blown away I’m sure it would have been

 

[itselenababe]

Ha! That’s kind of fun! I didn’t see it at first but it does look like a face! Your tank looks pretty new (white rocks) so I’d also vote cyano algae man

I take the decor out and scrub it pretty frequently, which I know probs isn’t the best, but it looks way nicer

is cyano bad?

 

[NashobaTek]

Try using a turkey baster, or try to scrape it off with your finger nail. Does it come off when you scrub it? If it doesn't, it might be the start of Coraline algae, but a 2 month tank is pretty new for Coraline algae, I believe.

 

[Tathamet]

it seems to be stuck on there. I tried “blowing“ at it with my finger and nothing changed. It’s right under the filter as well so if it could be blown away I’m sure it would have been

well it is possible it’s coralline I suppose but I’m not sure how fast it can start spreading in a new tank. Do you have any snails or live rock with the same coloured spots on them?

 

[itselenababe]

well it is possible it’s coralline I suppose but I’m not sure how fast it can start spreading in a new tank. Do you have any snails or live rock with the same coloured spots on them?

No snails but one of our hermit crabs shells is covered in coraline, literally only a few spots where you can see the shell, the rest is pink/purple but not red

 

[NashobaTek]

Pink/purple is normal Coraline algae colors.

 

[itselenababe]

I

Try using a turkey baster, or try to scrape it off with your finger nail. Does it come off when you scrub it? If it doesn't, it might be the start of Coraline algae, but a 2 month tank is pretty new for Coraline algae, I believe.

I just scratched at it pretty hard with my nail and it came off a bit, should I take it out and scrub the whole thing?

 

[Tathamet]

If the hermit has been in there a while it could be coralline but I’m still thinking Cyano. Aleast for the red spots anyway

 

[NashobaTek]

What about the back wall, does that come off easy? The spot on the rock might be Coraline, but it still looks like cyano.

Cyano can usually be blown off with a turkey baster or power head. But you will need to siphon or net any loose stuff out, cyano spreads easy.

The red is cyano, and yes this has all been completely cleaned, its also dead coral skeletons

 

[itselenababe]

What about the back wall, does that come off easy? The spot on the rock might be Coraline, but it still looks like cyano.

Cyano can usually be blown off with a turkey baster or power head. But you will need to siphon or net any loose stuff out, cyano spreads easy.

The red is cyano, and yes this has all been completely cleaned, its also dead coral skeletons

What about the back wall, does that come off easy? The spot on the rock might be Coraline, but it still looks like cyano.

Cyano can usually be blown off with a turkey baster or power head. But you will need to siphon or net any loose stuff out, cyano spreads easy.

The red is cyano, and yes this has all been completely cleaned, its also dead coral skeletons

I didn’t want to ruin the back wall if I can keep it a bit longer, but I tried taking some off the filter tube and the heater and it came off really easily. I barely had to touch it

I looked up close at the back wall it’s more of an orange/brown

 

[itselenababe]

Is cyano dangerous to have in the tank or is it just an aesthetics thing?

 

[NashobaTek]

Cyano is just part of the uglies. In the picture near the top of the stag horn Coral skeleton is a live toadstool coral, it's fine and the fish are fine. Algae is usually a sign of,. Overfeeding, high phosphate and nitrates. Water changes help but it's part of the maturing of the tank.

As far as dangerous, not really just ugly to look at. The high nitrates and phosphate is easy to get under control.