Red on live rock that goes away at night

[dansd]

I've had this live rock for about 3 months. Recently I've noticed this reddish "growth" on what previously looked like a small coral skeleton. At first I thought it was some sort of algae, but then I noticed that it completely goes away at night. When the lights come on in the morning, it looks just like a dead coral. After a short time it changes to a red/rust color. It gets darker for the next few hours and then stays that way the rest of the day. Do you know what this is? Could it be the coral coming back to life? If so, is there anything I should be doing to help it along? I don't have any other corals and so I don't supplement any type of coral food.


Danno

 

[Anonymous]

cyanobacteria...aka cyano...need to clear that up..its a pest

 

[danmhippo]

Control your phosphate, and target powerhead water flow to the problematic area. Cyno tend to appear at area of stagnant or less flow.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, i probably should have given a remedy for that too..Thanx Danmhippo

 

[wade1]

One other possibility is it is a macro algae... have you tried to touch it? Its very common that algaes blanch down overnight and have the color return in the light... just a thought, although unlikely.

Wade

 

[dansd]

Thanks for the info. Is it normal for cyno to disappear into the coral at night? It has this little string like tentacles that are barely visible. I think these are what "hide" in the coral at night. It's completely invisible in the morning? Here's a picture about an hour after the light is on. It's just starting to "come out". It seems to stay just on the coral skeleton.

 

[Anonymous]

Cyano does not disappear at night then reappear in the morning.
Can you get a closer pic when the red is out?
Andy

 

[Anonymous]

I dont think cyano has any "stingers" either...Cyano doesnt "disappear" I guess, It does seem to be not as visible when the lights go out..I think this is due to photosynthesis or the likes of...

 

[SnowManSnow]

Cyano is easy to ID. MOST of the time air bubbles will form on the algae while the light is on.

 

[Mihai]

It sounds like some sort of coral to me, but I can't tell you what. Most corals come out at night where there are fewer predators and more food, but yours seem to do the opposite... I know of only softies that inflate during the day as opposed to the night... weird.

I think that if you can get us two pictures in focus one open and one before it opens our experts (say David or John) will clear it out for you.

M.