Strange Algae?

Zuljien · 06/04/2012, 10:57 PM

At first i thought it to be a strange algae of some sort, but upon closer inspection i dont know what to think anymore. i purchased this piece of dead rock from my LFS and put it in a 20g tank that i am just now starting. I put some bacteria starter cultures in the tank and a 2" sand bed to help move things along. Then i started to see this weird growth on the rock. Not sure how long the rock had been dead for as it was taken out of a tank previously and never cleaned. I was unaware in put it in the tank with out thinking. My mistake! the smell was horrible. But after adding some extra carbon to the filter it disappeared for the most part. But now that thats over and done with i'm not sure if i should be concerned about this.

The stems growing off of this strange stuff seem to be soft even though they appear spikey. hopefully you can see it in this picture, its hard to photo it. It's growing in random other spots on the rock as well. any ideas what this is?

LordVega · 06/04/2012, 11:57 PM

... i cant see it wish i could zoom in

Zuljien · 06/05/2012, 11:09 PM

Yeah i wish i could have gotten a closeup. i need a water proof camera lol

06/04/2012, 10:57 PM	#1
Zuljien Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 2	Strange Algae? At first i thought it to be a strange algae of some sort, but upon closer inspection i dont know what to think anymore. i purchased this piece of dead rock from my LFS and put it in a 20g tank that i am just now starting. I put some bacteria starter cultures in the tank and a 2" sand bed to help move things along. Then i started to see this weird growth on the rock. Not sure how long the rock had been dead for as it was taken out of a tank previously and never cleaned. I was unaware in put it in the tank with out thinking. My mistake! the smell was horrible. But after adding some extra carbon to the filter it disappeared for the most part. But now that thats over and done with i'm not sure if i should be concerned about this. The stems growing off of this strange stuff seem to be soft even though they appear spikey. hopefully you can see it in this picture, its hard to photo it. It's growing in random other spots on the rock as well. any ideas what this is?

06/04/2012, 11:57 PM	#2
LordVega Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 114	... i cant see it wish i could zoom in

06/05/2012, 11:09 PM	#3
Zuljien Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 2	Yeah i wish i could have gotten a closeup. i need a water proof camera lol