FISHnChix Posted June 10, 2018 Share Posted June 10, 2018 Ok so this is kinda weird I have one spot in my tank that has popped up with a few red bubbles of alage. Today when I looked at it there was another bubble next to it but neon Orange.. I swear I have had every alage know to man at this point hahaha but this one is very odd bc it's so bright... anyone seen anything like this?? Maybe I will cut it off and glue it to a mushroom and sell it as a bounce mushroom🤔🤔 . 1 Quote Link to comment
RayWhisperer Posted June 10, 2018 Share Posted June 10, 2018 Botryocladia scottsbergi Quote Link to comment
FISHnChix Posted June 10, 2018 Author Share Posted June 10, 2018 So I notice those little stars by the alage earlier and thought nothing about it. Not I see one on the alage and what ever it is doing to alage is making it turn orange.. weird.. oh and ignore the apstaia those little bastards are about to eat some apstaiax for dinner.. 1 Quote Link to comment
RayWhisperer Posted June 10, 2018 Share Posted June 10, 2018 It’s an asterina Star. It’s quite probable the star is feeding off of the algae. However, I would suspect you’d see some small signs of damage. Starfish feed by expelling their stomach onto the prey item. So, maybe the orange is the damage? Stomach acid causing discoloration, and possible death? Or, is it the chlorophyll, or whatever gives it the red color, just being eaten out? I’m not sure about that. Quote Link to comment
RayWhisperer Posted June 10, 2018 Share Posted June 10, 2018 Do take note of those individual bubbles. Watch to see if they recover, or die. Botryocladia is a nasty macro. It can take over a tank, given the right conditions. Having asterina as a natural control method would be good info for anyone battling issues with this macro. Quote Link to comment
FISHnChix Posted June 10, 2018 Author Share Posted June 10, 2018 Yea who knows I just thought it is cool how neon Orange it got lol.. it's interesting though.. Quote Link to comment
FISHnChix Posted June 10, 2018 Author Share Posted June 10, 2018 2 minutes ago, RayWhisperer said: Do take note of those individual bubbles. Watch to see if they recover, or die. Botryocladia is a nasty macro. It can take over a tank, given the right conditions. Having asterina as a natural control method would be good info for anyone battling issues with this macro. Will do.. Yea the algae is a pain to kill I have tried scraping it and tried spot treating a few times with peroxide and it comes back in the same spot.. hopefully this kills them haha.. Quote Link to comment
FISHnChix Posted June 11, 2018 Author Share Posted June 11, 2018 So the little star got all the bubbles to turn Orange.. wonder if the algae will die off now... Quote Link to comment
mndfreeze Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 We might start to see a case where people will willingly put asterinas in if this turns out to be a decent control method. hahah. 1 Quote Link to comment
patback Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 3 minutes ago, mndfreeze said: We might start to see a case where people will willingly put asterinas in if this turns out to be a decent control method. hahah. I actually asked for asterinas last time I went to the lfs. I like them and my harlequins made short work of mine when I had them. 1 Quote Link to comment
mndfreeze Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 Yeah but asking for them for food is definitely not the same as people asking for them for their algae control abilities lol. I don't mind the little guys and I think they get a bad rap from a lot of uneducated or presumptuous people who are blaming them for things they didn't really do, like bristleworms get a lot of the time. I personally feel every extra little reef safe mouth you can get into your tank that helps keep it clean and the food web as complex as possible is a good thing. I currently have a single asterina that hiked into my tank from somewhere. I assume in a few months I'll have a handful or so but unless they break out in record numbers I won't mess with em. Quote Link to comment
patback Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 7 minutes ago, mndfreeze said: Yeah but asking for them for food is definitely not the same as people asking for them for their algae control abilities lol. I don't mind the little guys and I think they get a bad rap from a lot of uneducated or presumptuous people who are blaming them for things they didn't really do, like bristleworms get a lot of the time. I personally feel every extra little reef safe mouth you can get into your tank that helps keep it clean and the food web as complex as possible is a good thing. I currently have a single asterina that hiked into my tank from somewhere. I assume in a few months I'll have a handful or so but unless they break out in record numbers I won't mess with em. Oh, my harlequins are long gone. Once they were gone I asked for more asterinas because i like them. Lol 1 Quote Link to comment
FISHnChix Posted June 25, 2018 Author Share Posted June 25, 2018 So I kinda forgot about this post.. so the red bubble alage that turned Orange after the star munched on it went away.. I remembered bc there was a few more bubbles it missed and it back at again.. Quote Link to comment
mndfreeze Posted June 28, 2018 Share Posted June 28, 2018 Since this thread I've come across quite a few other bubble algae threads with people asking about it changing color, or mentioning it after treatment or a predator eating it and it seems it changes to that color when its dying. Good bit of info to know when dealing with it and trying to find out whats actually working. Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.