ID Needed!

[KenT]

I have had this piece of live rock for yrs with nothing growing on. It was in the sump. I downsized my 535 to a 180. I pulled some smaller pieces of live rock out of the sump to use in the 180.

Tank was set up for about 2 months and was looking great. I experiemented with 2 part epoxy to make a fake substrate, and unfortunatley nuked everything in the tank except for 3 corals and 2 fish.

I changed all the water, rinsed everthing, and washed the tank.

Everything is doing well again and I have started to add corals.

I noticed the other day a small red patch on a rock. It is slowely growing and now it is starting to take shape. It is still small and hard to see clearly. I touched it and it is soft but didn't seem to receed. It is not a sponge.

I have no idea where it came from. Here is a pic. It is not that great but the best I can get.

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/556721117WVdvfr

Any ideas??

 

[nemodude]

It looks like some kind of red macroalgae, but its hard to tell from the picture. Is it soft and squishy or just smooth and soft on the outside, with a hard internal structure like a coral?

 

[nemodude]

Why are you trying to make a fake substrate?? Your substrate is one of the most important aspects of your biological filter. It is where most of the nitrifying bacteria grow that break down your ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.

 

[nemodude]

figure it out yet?

 

[Fishie Nut]

looks like a sponge

 

[jtumbleweed]

its a type of macro algae. i had the same thing happen in my tank, I moved some rocks around and discovered a big patch of the same stuff growing on the rock. it was getting big and looked pretty cool until i got a pygmy angel and it had it for its first meal that night.

 

[JCTewks]

I've got the same stuff. It grows in my sump, and I toss some into the DT every now and then...Tangs LOVE it