Macro Algae ID? Similar to Caulerpa Racemosa. Wild from Australian Live Rock.

Yea I seen that. I believe that is the only country right now that actual live rock comes from but it can be from several areas and suppliers..
The rock can be so variable on how it is handled too. I am just ordering who he got it from and was there a type.


Fiji has some aquaculture Walt rock and then Florida Aquaculture to.

I am seeing rock starting to pop up from other areas again but not sure if it is actually real.
Oh, gotcha. I misunderstood your question. My apologies.
 
Oh, gotcha. I misunderstood your question. My apologies.

No issues and I appreciate the reply..
That rock he has a ton of algae and cool hitch hikers. I mean it is amazing what he is getting after al this time.
Most of it is so stripped down that I am seeing.
This is what I miss from live rock.
 
No issues and I appreciate the reply..
That rock he has a ton of algae and cool hitch hikers. I mean it is amazing what he is getting after al this time.
Most of it is so stripped down that I am seeing.
This is what I miss from live rock.
I know, I miss the old Fiji, Tonga, Kaelini, and Marshall Island rock from back in the day. The OP’s rock is amazing.
 
After some researching... I think the pink algae is Jania sp. (maybe Jania crassa)?

I went back through my emails - I purchased the rock from UniqueCorals.com. I purchased in two batches (neither of which was the branching type) with the second batch being better by far. There are also two different hitchhiker zoanthid / palythoa species not yet pictured. Some of the life you see on the rock was seeded with a variety pack from Indo-Pacific Sea Farms. The Sargassum is from IPSF and not a rock hitchhiker, for example.

There were several unidentified worms living the rock - those are all gone now. I thought they died, but I would now bet that snail ate them. The worms would send super long sweepers out from a hole searching for detritus, and would occasionally puff some sort of waste product out from the hole in the rock... I could only see the sweepers and the puff into the water, not the actual creature inside the rock.
 
Check out the growth on this Jania Sp. Five weeks! The calcareous segments have joints between them that allows it to move with water currents. I may try to propagate a frag soon... It's quite nice.

I have no doubt that plant lighting (i.e. non-reef lights) and heavy kalkwasser supplementation are the primary factors in recent growth.

January 23, 2024
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February 9, 2024

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February 28, 2024
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Zoomed out
IMG-20240228-190420.jpg
 
I attempted to "frag" the Jania Sp. - I tried traditional fragging by taking a cutting, but the small piece was difficult to handle without breaking.

I ended up intentionally crushing a few pieces with my fingers to disperse the coralline [spores?] around the tank. That method seems to have been a success, as at least one new specimen has started growing.

Vermatid snails and Nausithoe Sp. ("Hydroids") for size reference.
20240430-183158.jpg


Personally, I don't mind the "hydroids" and I find Vermatids to be quite beneficial... They're great cleaners.

20240430-183415.jpg


The baby snails are doing well, but I did lose quite a few by scraping the sidewalls and trimming macro algae. Some were disposed with the scraped algae, others fell into the sand.

The survival rate in the sand is probably low. They can't move very fast and end up burried... The ones that have survived are looking good. Ridges on their shells likely indicate some deficiency or similar water parameters issue, but the colors are looking really nice.

20240430-180128.jpg
 
Also, checkout this worm... Any guesses on an ID? I believe it's sedentary but I'm not certain of that. There are several throughout the tank. Video is 1/4th speed at certain parts.

 
I attempted to "frag" the Jania Sp. - I tried traditional fragging by taking a cutting, but the small piece was difficult to handle without breaking.

I ended up intentionally crushing a few pieces with my fingers to disperse the coralline [spores?] around the tank. That method seems to have been a success, as at least one new specimen has started growing.

Vermatid snails and Nausithoe Sp. ("Hydroids") for size reference.
20240430-183158.jpg


Personally, I don't mind the "hydroids" and I find Vermatids to be quite beneficial... They're great cleaners.

20240430-183415.jpg


The baby snails are doing well, but I did lose quite a few by scraping the sidewalls and trimming macro algae. Some were disposed with the scraped algae, others fell into the sand.

The survival rate in the sand is probably low. They can't move very fast and end up burried... The ones that have survived are looking good. Ridges on their shells likely indicate some deficiency or similar water parameters issue, but the colors are looking really nice.

20240430-180128.jpg
Very cool.
 
Also, checkout this worm... Any guesses on an ID? I believe it's sedentary but I'm not certain of that. There are several throughout the tank. Video is 1/4th speed at certain parts.

Looks like a digitate hydroid to me.
 
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