What is this?

[hawks12]

This is on live rock purchased from my LFS. For the first few weeks it was rather pale, but it is getting brighter now, kind of pink. It seems firm and smooth.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

 

[paulace2372]

That's coraline algae, a good thing and a very attractive feature in your tank. The longer you have your tank you will find that it will encrust and develop in other areas such as around powerheads and on the glass, around heaters etc. It comes in a variety of colours, mostly identified in tanks as purple / pink and a creamy White colour developing as your tank matures.

 

[hawks12]

Thanks. It seemed so different than other coraline I have had in the past, very thick. Most of the time all I've ever gotten was a thin covering. I guess that makes up for the gorilla crab that hitched a ride with all the live rock lol.

 

[paulace2372]

Thanks. It seemed so different than other coraline I have had in the past, very thick. Most of the time all I've ever gotten was a thin covering. I guess that makes up for the gorilla crab that hitched a ride with all the live rock lol.

Haha, yeah I'd say so! Don't be surprised if you find a tint of brown in there aswel, it's kind of walnut coloured - rather nice. Yours actually looks like a nice piece of rock.