I have pics with questions....

Well my friend gave these green star polyps (?) an they were on this green thing. Well I set this green thing on my rock, and now, about 3-4 weeks later, it seems to have taken over the rock, as well as covered up half the polyps!

green stuff:

Oh yes, my tank has become quite christmasy lately, as I also have red stuff that is taking over.

red stuff

So what is the red and the green stuff, and how bad is it for my tank?

top one sorta looks like bubble algae

I thought bubble algae were acutally bubbles and not grossy like that???

well there are air bubble comming out of it all the time

blow the algae off with a turkey baster. it doesn't have to be there.

looks like a kind of cyano algae to me.

i'd use a turkey baster to suck out as much of it as you can and replace with fresh clean saltwater.

Both of them are types of algae?

Is their any way to keep it from comming back, after it;s been removed?

Good water conditions and flow are your best bet, possibly a fuge or skimmer for nutrient export. How long has the tank been set up?

Is it just me or does it almost look like a cobweb covering his GSP. Doesn't that normally indicate some sort of "die-off"?

A mucous slime with bubbes is dinoflagellates. Same thing causes red tide in the ocean. Siphon it out, increase skimming if you can, do water changes, and pray. Will hopefully go away with good water maintenance and time. Good luck!

So the green stuff causes red tide? OK, I'm confused.

As for the die-off, that green patch was very small and was covered with GSP's when I got it. I placed it on the rocks and it just took over. It started covering up the gsp's and everything. And that was the only thing they were attached to, the weren't attached to another rock or anything at at. I got them from a friend who got them from a friend.

As for the timeframe, the tank has been up since March I think? I have (2) 404 powerheads on full blast, and an Aquaclear 300 that is half setup for a fuge. The other half has floss and charcoal in it, as well as the heater. It's not flowing a whole lot, ebcause when it did, all you could see were air bubbles all over the place.

Also, it is a 10 gallon tank, and I only have one of those surface skimmers, not a protien skimmer. Currently there are 2 Pepermint Shrimp and 2 astria snails.

I hope it's not too late, but try pointing the flow of a powehead on your GSP frag for a few days and see if it helps.

Steve

Looks like a form of cyano to me. I am pretty sure the ployps are toast and I would get that the hell out of there - even if it means removing the rock - asap.

If you see any more of it popping up anywhere I would dose erythromycin immediately.

Originally posted by xcajx

If you see any more of it popping up anywhere I would dose erythromycin immediately.

This kills cyano? Just curious, haven't read that before.

I dont have any experience using medications in tanks but isn't erythromycin a anti-biotic, would that not also kill any "friendly" bacteria that was in your live rock and sand bed?

-Anthony

Well for the time being, I sucked it all out. We'll see what happens next....