Algae ID please...

[smspring]

The little white hairy things. Best photos I could get. Guessing it's a form of hair algae...

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/172141algae_1.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/172141algae_2.jpg

[crvz]

just the light brown/gray stuff? kind of looks like bacterial flock more than anything, just a dumping of stuff out of the rocks. does it blow off with a turkey baster and collect in lower flow portions of the tank (under rocks)?

[RicksReefs]

nope, not algae. they're Foraminiferans. harmless 'lifeforms' that populate and get to be a pain as detritus gets stuck to them.
I use an old toothbrush and gently scrub them off. it doesn't get rid of them, but it does clean up the rock for a month or so.

[smspring]

I've heard that forams are tiny organisms visible thru a microscope... these are much larger, and they move around (with the water flow) like algae. And one of my snails was eating some (not sure if they eat forams)... Also, they have been spreading quickly the past couple of weeks.

Does anyone have any pics of forams that look like these?

[smspring]

Here's a desc of forams, and what I have do not appear to be forams:

http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/forams/photoalbum_view

I guess I can watch and see how they grow- just don't want them to get out of control if I can/need to slow them down now.