black on liverock

[tunaman]

right now i am at a frinds house for an emergency call for ammonia spikes and noticed a black coraline algae on the bottoms of the rock only a few are affected with this anomolly any ideas as to what this is and if it could b the cause of the ammonia spikes?

 

[BOSTONBAKEDBEAN]

I have a bunch of black sponge. could be that. midnight black with a slight shine to it. Not sure how sponge reacts to ammonia though

 

[TomD]

Is the tank new? If so, and it is new LR, it is probably normal dieoff and nothing to be worried about. I imagine this is what is going on where you have amonia?

 

[Greg Hiller]

Black areas can form on the sections of rock that are buried in the sand and are in a low oxygen environment. I believe that in some cases metal sulfides (like iron sulfide) are formed. It's not a big deal IME>

 

[BOSTONBAKEDBEAN]

the stuff greg mentioned smells bad like sulfur.

 

[tunaman]

thanks think that may be it does smell like sulfur