2 ID's - an algae and a ?

[holy carp]

Exhibit a:

 

I've been getting some algae like this:

 

They always seem very straight and vertical. Not a problem at this point. I pluck them occasionally, but they spring up again. Sometimes when they get to about a half inch, they have a dandelion-like top like this:

 

 

 

Exhibit b:

 

Then I have this under my elegance coral which is attached to a rock. Like threads that seem to go through the rock. They've been increasing since I got the coral, so I'm under the impression the coral might have some type of filament. Or else something really likes living under it. Could they be related to that white sponge that lives there?

 

[metrokat]

Exhibit A - hard to ID from stalks

Exhibit B - I call them roots, they're fuzzy, wiry and stay close to the rockwork. Stays on the underside of rocks. I've not had them harm anything or take over anything or irritate corals.

[holy carp]

Exhibit A - hard to ID from stalks

Exhibit B - I call them roots, they're fuzzy, wiry and stay close to the rockwork. Stays on the underside of rocks. I've not had them harm anything or take over anything or irritate corals.

 

I'll have to leave them longer - they don't seem to grow taller than that.

 

But you're saying the roots are unrelated to the coral or the sponge?

[metrokat]

Probably related to the sponge. But I don't have any experience with the Elegance coral. I don;t have one but I have t he roots so I'm going to go with "no" as my final answer and I reserve the option to call a friend.

[Speaker73]

The algae that you need an id on could be the tea cup algae (acetabularia sp.). I have those in my tank as well with that filamentous type of top. I would try to let it grow a bit more and see if the distinctive cup like top develops.

 

In my tank a stalk to two grows then disappears after a few weeks.

 

Take this FWIW.

[metrokat]

The algae that you need an id on could be the tea cup algae (acetabularia sp.). I have those in my tank as well with that filamentous type of top. I would try to let it grow a bit more and see if the distinctive cup like top develops.

 

In my tank a stalk to two grows then disappears after a few weeks.

 

Take this FWIW.

I thought so too till he said "dandelion" which looks like this

or this

[Speaker73]

Good point Kat. I know that the tea cup macro I have in my tank gets this puff ball type of thing on the tips once in a while. Now that I think of it its usually after the cup portion has formed. Of course the picture posted is pretty blurry but there could be a tiny cup forming on the tip....

[holy carp]

Yeah, I meant Kat's first dandelion photo. I got a better shot of the top today:

 

 

The whole thing looks to be about 1cm tall, though I've had a couple that may have been twice that height. (like the biggest in the first photo of the OP)