koi Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Hi there. My tank is around 4 weeks old now and I am seeing some growths on my rock that weren't there when I first got it. Been running MH lights for around a week now, seems like they started growing once the light started to be used. The brown mass seems like it could be a sponge? I'm more interested in what these leaf-like things growing out of the red areas are - some kind of macroalgae? And I recently bought a little zoa colony that I realized has a single green thing with patterns sitting in it, looks almost like a venus fly trap or something. A little help id'ing these would be great as I'd like to make sure there's nothing going wrong in my tank. Thanks! Link to comment
c est ma Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 to Nano-Reef! Oooh, you are in the most fun stage--watching what appears from the LR... I'm afraid I can't help you much...not sure about your first growth, could be a sponge (that's MY favorite guess for amorphous blobs) but possibly a coralline alga? (They come in many colors...) Your green macro looks like a Halimeda, to me...a calcareous alga that is quite decorative, IMO. See some discussion of it in this article: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-01/sl/index.php I cannot see enough of your zoa intruder to ID it. From your description, tho, it almost sounds like some teensy bivalve. There are, however, a lot of zoa "pests" one needs to be vigilant against. Your zoas are closed up in the pic...do they also open fully for you? If not, you might need to be worried... Sorry I can't be of more help! --Diane Link to comment
koi Posted December 7, 2007 Author Share Posted December 7, 2007 ... --Diane Thanks for the help! I'll have to wait and see what it grows into, but the macroalgae or whatever it is definitely looks like it could be Halimeda. It could also be the same algae as the one in this post here, 1st image. Definitely looks similar in shape and color. As for the zoas, from what I've seen in the week I've had it, about 75% of the polyps open up, and around a 1/5 of them are different colors that almost looks like it's diseased. The 25% that don't open up seem to be starting to open up here and there - but these tend to have the different color/look to them. Here's a closeup shot, I think these are eagle eyes from looking around. You can see the color difference clearly. Link to comment
Detritus07 Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Hi there. My tank is around 4 weeks old now and I am seeing some growths on my rock that weren't there when I first got it. Been running MH lights for around a week now, seems like they started growing once the light started to be used. The brown mass seems like it could be a sponge? I'm more interested in what these leaf-like things growing out of the red areas are - some kind of macroalgae? And I recently bought a little zoa colony that I realized has a single green thing with patterns sitting in it, looks almost like a venus fly trap or something. A little help id'ing these would be great as I'd like to make sure there's nothing going wrong in my tank. Thanks! the 1st pic with the brown encrusting the rock I have also. It started as a little spot like yours, and now covers an entire rock. I picked at it and it seemed to come off in sheets! I meant to ask someone here what it was. It looks like macro algae of some sort after i picked a piece off, but on the rock it looks like brownish coraline.Wish I could help more. Link to comment
c est ma Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 Thanks for the help! I'll have to wait and see what it grows into, but the macroalgae or whatever it is definitely looks like it could be Halimeda. It could also be the same algae as the one in this post here, 1st image. Definitely looks similar in shape and color. Okay, looking at your picture again, I can see what you mean. In that case it could be some sort of Sargassum: http://www.seewasserlexikon.de/algen/sargassum_sp.htm http://www.melevsreef.com/id/sargassum.html 3 spp here, scroll down: http://www.marinelifephotography.com/marin...wn-seaweeds.htm http://www.poppe-images.com/images/search_...ly=SARGASSACEAE As for the zoas, from what I've seen in the week I've had it, about 75% of the polyps open up, and around a 1/5 of them are different colors that almost looks like it's diseased. The 25% that don't open up seem to be starting to open up here and there - but these tend to have the different color/look to them. Here's a closeup shot, I think these are eagle eyes from looking around. You can see the color difference clearly. Hmmm, I haven't had a problem with my few zoas, but I think that after a week you should expect to see full opening...you might want to go to this site and look around: http://www.zoaid.com/index.php If you click on "gallery" you will get an option to click on "Album: Zoanthid Predators, Irritaters, & Diseases," which might give you some idea what's going on (or, better yet, put your mind at ease! ). Note, though, that I do have a colony of mixed reds & greens and it is not unusual for all of one color to be acting differently than all of the other color! HTH, --Diane Link to comment
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