Algae Ball?

[travisw30]

HEy i found this sweet looking algae ball at the beach and wanted to put it in my refugium. Is that fine. I have it in a ziplock bag full of R/O water. There all kinds of stuff dead in the bag. Is that good enough or does some stuff live through a r/o rinse?

 

[ibefishy]

Personally I wouldnt put anything I found at the beach in my tank. There can be pollutants from offshore drilling in it. Even though you rinsed it in r/o water. Also given the temp difference between the cool Pacific 55-58 degrees and a reef tank 78-80 degrees it may not be able to live. In the end I would have to ask, why risk it? Maybe I am just paranoid of a crash.

 

[shapermike]

the water on our coast is really cold. I would not risk the chance of contaminating your tank.