What are these patches of dark brown stuff around my zoa?

[LouisianaReefer]

Could anyone please tell me what is this dark brown stuff all around my zoa frag? Here is the pic below. Sorry it is slightly blurry.

<a href="http://s1365.photobucket.com/user/Kevin_Olivier/media/20130505142520_zps7c9f59a7.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1365.photobucket.com/albums/r741/Kevin_Olivier/20130505142520_zps7c9f59a7.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20130505142520_zps7c9f59a7.jpg"/></a>

Any recommended treatments to kill this stuff? I tried dipping this frag in Revive for 15 min yet it only helped stunt the growth of this stuff. I have some Coral Rx dip on the way via mail that I will try.

 

[SantaMonica]

What is nitrate and phosphate, and do you have nuisance algae in the tank?

 

[LouisianaReefer]

What is nitrate and phosphate, and do you have nuisance algae in the tank?

Both nitrate and phoshpate levels are zero. There is no nuisance algae at all currently. On Monday I noticed that these brown patches grew something looking like "wiskers," thin tenticles in pairs of 2. It was different from the brown fuzzy stuff. I dipped this frag and most of my other zoas in Coral Rx. It may be going away.

 

[SantaMonica]

Sounds like just a weak coral that is trying to make it, and fight off the brown bacteria.

 

[LouisianaReefer]

found the culprit! A Funky brown sponge?

found the culprit! A Funky brown sponge?

I believe that I found the culprit that is messing with my zoa frag. I noticed the tenticle like hairs on a hitch-hiker sponge in my tank elsewhere. Here is a pic:

<a href="http://s1365.photobucket.com/user/Kevin_Olivier/media/20130516190552_zps2391b1c9.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1365.photobucket.com/albums/r741/Kevin_Olivier/20130516190552_zps2391b1c9.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20130516190552_zps2391b1c9.jpg"/></a>

Anyone know if this is a sponge or not? One rock that was taken out for about 10 minutes had one on it that died. This may be evidence that these are sponges since sponges are known to die when exposed to air even for a short while. On the contrary, I have not seen pics of sponges that have hairs or tenticles on them.

Below is a pic from the frag again with the brown stuff on it. If you look closely, you can notice the tenticle-like hairs on it at the top of the frag. These "hairs" have grown on the frag since my original pictures.

<a href="http://s1365.photobucket.com/user/Kevin_Olivier/media/20130516190420_zpsfc2ddcee.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1365.photobucket.com/albums/r741/Kevin_Olivier/20130516190420_zpsfc2ddcee.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20130516190420_zpsfc2ddcee.jpg"/></a>

My plan to kill these sponges is to simply take out the frag and expose it to open air for about 15 minutes. Zoas stay out in the air for much longer than this in the wild; however, these patches of sponges should be toast! I will post some more pics later on to show the progress.

 

[SushiGirl]

Are you processing these pics somehow? They look overly processed or something. Makes it hard to see details as they naturally look to be able to help.

 

[650-IS350]

looks like sponges to me

 

[LouisianaReefer]

Are you processing these pics somehow? They look overly processed or something. Makes it hard to see details as they naturally look to be able to help.

One of the pics was cropped. That is why it is so bad. I do not know why the other is so blurry. These are taken with a USB "microscope" that is on the cheap side. I will be sure not to crop again.

 

[LouisianaReefer]

Thanks for all the input. Here a picture of the sponge before the pic was cropped:

<a href="http://s1365.photobucket.com/user/Kevin_Olivier/media/20130516190552_zpsd7458a51.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1365.photobucket.com/albums/r741/Kevin_Olivier/20130516190552_zpsd7458a51.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20130516190552_zpsd7458a51.jpg"/></a>

It is still poor, quality; however, the details are better in this pic than my HD webcam or my cheap digital camera.

 

[SushiGirl]

Cropping is ok & often necessary so don't worry about cropping, maybe it's the microscpe thingy or it's just blurry. All I see is sponge.