Apo Island Apo Island Beach Resort

earlmj , you could add that if you watch the parrotfish for a while you will also eventually see sand coming out their backside with their droppings-
and your coral sand explaination is missing the significant contribution by coralline algae : )

 

So much true Cebudiver but I do not wish to write whole novels , about one topic.
Lets first tell the people that there is more then one way to "make "coralsand but yet the only REAL Coralsand is made out of coral itself. That is the one I was refering to.. from the Parrotfish. The other types are either a result of Diatome algae or Coralline Algae as you so right have posted here.
TYPE ONE : never round as a ball .. is real Coralsand
TYPE TWO perfect round shaped as a ball ,pretty small and in one case looking like starshaped Birdseed . Made by Diatome Algae or Corallinae Algae

Coralline Algae ( Rhodophyta ) is also known as the outside layer ( Epiphytic)of Calcarious Rocks and is nothing more then a result of calcarious algae deposits.. Just to put it simple for most of the readers ( hope you agree on this one) at time it "solves " (crumbles) and get a new calcium layer around the crumbled piece that can vary in size from less then 0.1 mm to some bigger.. Same procedure as with the Diatome Algae. Lets all not forget it is a process already going on for millions of years , and hopefully millions of years to come..............
The same Corallinae Algae Technique is addapted for building artifical reefs as it goes very rapidly. Beside that also the Acropra type of corals grow very quick unlike some species that have a growthrate of one inch per year only.

Once in Duma I will ( here we go again) give seminars and can show how everything goes and show the difference in types of coralsand. It is very easy to show in an aquarium the whole procedure of the building of Corallinae Algae and also how it gets into becoming Coralsand. Many marine tank keepers around the world can tell you that as well. Very rare is the Birdseed Coralsand . It is completly round but carries a star shape as well. It is found in the Philippines on very few places only ,which I will not reveil . Some Parrotfish do pretty well in captivity and feed on DOGFOOD PELLETS.

 

Yabs , There are many kinds of Algae , one bad Boy is commonly known as the Blue Algae but is in fact looking green as well. Though it might even appear are solid red. It is in fact a Bacteria belonging to the CYANO BACTERIA. In other words I have to see with my own eyes and take watersamples to give a conclussion. But..
Generaly spoken you are not wrong about what you are telling me. Phosphates are causing lost of problems but so do sulphates It is for sure a big fat lie to claim that the algae is " the mother "of the coralsand. However it does sound as a pretty good promotion for the resort , now doesn,t it .

Alagae bloom as you discribe is a big pasaway for the ones that have a reef tank as hobby.I can tell you that it can wipe out entire coral colonies . I have plenty of slides from the time I was very active in this field , however nothing is digital so I cannot show any of that here.
Algae bloom can also be triggered by extrem high PH as over 9.2 for instance Algae is also known to absorb No 3 in good quantities .NO 3 is a result of NO2 which is a result of Ammonia and Ammoniumchloride in the water as a result of WASTE .I can give lectors for hours and hour on Water managment which is one of my specialities. That as result of my intenssive work in the field of breeding both salt and freshwater fish
Getting to that point I am making a big jump to were one of the major problems lays with the Tilapia breeding in this country. Lost of breeders come to know that the Tilapia ( originated from Africa and introduce here some 30 years agao by Wilson Ang , former owner of the Bio Resaerch petshop chain) LOVES to eat a floating plant named DUCKWEED,which does only very well in silent water .The problem is that Duck weed is triving on NO 3 ... The fish gets a lot of no3 ( NITRATE) inside resulting in lost of weight , less growrate and getting vonarable for sickness. Beside that all Tilapia , Hito and BANGUS that are from freshwater ( Tilapia and Bangus can also be bred in saltwater) is loaded with Nemathods In common English Worms. One of the reasons you can get serious sick by eating it NOT proper cooked or fried . Anyway as usuall I am getting into it much to deep .I am now likely having the ultimate weapon for that and it is under study in Israel but has passed already in India an many other fish breeding countries.
Closing Remarks therefore :
Green Algae could well be a Blue Algae and what ever kind it is it just meens there is a lot of sh*t in the water . That well could be litaraly !!
Any further details I can furnish you in a private email if needed.

 

i said the algae in question was seasonal and occurs all over the phillipines during april, even in areas without development (although PO4 and NO3 can stimulate their growth) and there was a type of algae that produced CaCO3 sand but not the algae in question in boracay- i will post a picture of each, taken in front of my place as soon as I can re-size them

 

i have 2 good pictures taken of the algae taken in 4/04 in an undeveloped area near liloan - they are bitmaps and i cant seem to get them small enough to meet the websites specs and still have them big enough to see the algae -when i first saw it the first thing i did was look for a nutrient source but didnt find one - i figured one of the resorts were to blame since i usually associate that type of filamentous algae with exsessive nutrients - but the local fishermen said it appears every spring for a month or so and then is gone - i have looked and it occurs in samboan, oslob, santander, bato, etc... only in spring and whether there is development or not - the water is calmer and warmer then - those conditions cause red tide blooms in florida so why not algae blooms in the philippines (assuming a certain nutrient level naturally in the water) ... any thoughts on that earl?
yabs... the TT posts mentioned the corraline algae - i confirmed that there was such a thing but although i havent seen the algae in boracay, i suspect what was being discussed was not corraline algae - i said we had seasonal algae in liloan and i could not connect it with a nutrient source

 

algae pictures

here are pictures of the same area in april and june - with and without the filamentous algae

 

the picture with the algae was in 2 meters of water - the one without in 3 or 4 meters but both at liloan in fron of my place - this was the worst I have ever seen the algae - it continued upcurrent and downcerrent at least 100 meters in each direction and was completely gone when I returned in June

 

O boy , we realy are getting together as a group now , don,t we. Thanks Yabs and Cebudiver for all the interesting stuff and scientific approach. I always try to clarify things in a way everybody understand , then there is little to be clarified with those that are insiders , right ?
Yabs and cebu , Escherichia Coli ( E. coli ) is starter food for lost of strains of Algae. We are in process of breeding sponges for Pharmaceutical purpose as been used at R&D with the first Anti Viral drug ZOVIRAX. Once again E.coli is pretty good nutricion for algae. So yabs yep . the algae bloom or explotion as I prefer to call it might be a result of that . Together with ( Cebudiver) high temperature and high salinity and therefore huge PH it will result in algae bloom mainly in tidal waters or just in front of the beach but mostly in calm water places. Nice ( but horrible) pictures Cebudiver. Filamentous algae is eaten only by some very specific fishes as the Fox face ( Lo unimaculatus and the species vulpinus and magnifica ) and the Moorish Idol which i guess you all know (Zanclus cornutus) Most fish and other Tangs related do feeding on algae but do not touch the filamentous algae for it contents..

Pictures are : Me feeding Lo unimaculatus ( please don,t try this at home ,their dorsal spines are venomous!!) And one of my former workers at the Algae reactors .
I do have some nice microscope pics of E. coli on a platter as wel but.. can,t find them..