id help please

K

ken the newbe

Guest
i have live rock in my tank for aprox 7-8 months know.when i bought the rock i noticed a small brown spot the size of a dime. since that time it has grown to about 3 inches in diam. and hanging over the rock a bit. it is very thin - i took good pics of it but when i tried to down load it to this site it said the file was to large-can any one help ? is this a good thing or bad. i noticed a second one growing. thanks
 
N

nereef

Guest
try resizing the pic with paint or another program. sounds like a zoanthid to me.
 
K

ken the newbe

Guest
having a hard time downloading the whole pic but here is the edge
 
yosemite sam

yosemite sam

Active Member
It looks like a type of encrusting algae. I have it is a few spots, and red-legged hermits (not the big scarlett ones) seem to do a good job of mowing it down.
 
N

nereef

Guest
looks pretty harmless, but we still can't tell what it is by that picture.
 
K

ken the newbe

Guest
is this any better-thanks for the help
i think its soft and flexible
 
grumpygils

grumpygils

Active Member
Originally Posted by ken the newbe
i have live rock in my tank for aprox 7-8 months know.when i bought the rock i noticed a small brown spot the size of a dime. since that time it has grown to about 3 inches in diam. and hanging over the rock a bit. it is very thin - i took good pics of it but when i tried to down load it to this site it said the file was to large-can any one help ? is this a good thing or bad. i noticed a second one growing. thanks

Encrusting sponge. Good.
Mc
 
T

tizzo

Guest
Are you sure it's soft?? Poke it. It looks like a monti cap, white rimmed and all.
If it is soft, then it's cool as heck, but before I browse all my books, I want you to be "sure" it's soft!
 
T

tizzo

Guest
my book (I couldn't help myself) has an elephant ear coral that looks like that...
 
groupergenius

groupergenius

Active Member
Originally Posted by Tizzo
my book (I couldn't help myself) has an elephant ear coral that looks like that...
Just couldn't wait could you??
 
yosemite sam

yosemite sam

Active Member
It looks like algae from the Lobophora genus (variegata maybe?). Do a online search and you'll find other pictures. It will spread if you don't get it in check, which I found out the hard way. If you can get the rock out, you can scrub if off with a toothbrush.
 
K

ken the newbe

Guest
i just felt it . its soft. i think its some kind of mushroom. thanks for all the help. i was concerned when i seen a second and third one growing. they even grow on top of each other. once again thank you
 
yosemite sam

yosemite sam

Active Member
It's not a mushroom, it's an algae. You should really try and get it out.
Here are a few photos from the web for comparison:

 
K

ken the newbe

Guest
i just found that pic also on the web. will this take over the tank or cause some other kind of damage
 
yosemite sam

yosemite sam

Active Member
It won't cause damage per se, but it will grow over all of your rock. Besides scrubbing it off with a tooth brush, red-legged hermit crabs are the only things I have found that will eat it. Snails and other types of hermits don't touch it. Like any other nuisance algae, getting your nitrates and phosphates under control helps a lot. I still have it in a few spots but it no longer spreads.
 
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