Reef Mildew Issue? Help Pls

[AmpWin1]

Can anyone ID for sure here if I have a mold issue with my new soft coral zoas and xenias as pictured below? My LFS is recommending that I scrape them off with a face mask on. I don't want to be hasty, also don't want to be lazy with this. Any help is appreciated. Thanks,

 

[julie180]

Mold is not an issue in reef tanks. It could be sponge. I can't tell from the picture, can you get a close up?

 

[AmpWin1]

Julie, thank you --- certainly, let me get in as close as I can on a couple trouble spots.

 

[AmpWin1]

it looks like some kind of "gunk" is on them; they are only 2 days old in the tank and were dipped before they went in.

 

[Mike_Diako]

To me it looks like detritus or just general gunk buildup. I get that often with corals on my sand bed due to my pink spotted goby. I would flush them out in a bucket of tank water and blast them with a power head. a soft bristled brush works wonders as well.

 

[AmpWin1]

Thanks Mike. I used the powerhead to dust them off --- gunk appears to be the case on the zoas, the GSP's though, that stuff is stuck on there good ... I ordered some seachem dip, should be here Friday. Hopefully that helps the cause.

 

[julie180]

I'm at a loss if its "stuck on good". I would say, just keep an eye on it and if it seems to be spreading, consider breaking that portion of rock off.

Are all of those on one rock? If so, you are going to run into issue with them not having room to grow and killing each other. If its possible to break the rock into pieces and give each coral some room to grow. I use a coal chisel to break rock.