ID Translucent Little Trees

Jack20120 · Jan 31, 2023

My 90-g tank has been running for about 4 weeks. It's still cycling but with 60 lb of live rock. Some of the rock is starting to come to live.

We can't ID these little tree looking things that are growing on one of the live rocks. It seems isolated to one side of one of the live rock pieces. They have grown slowly over the past few weeks.

Any idea what these are / should we try to remove?

Mark Goode · Jan 31, 2023

They look like hydroids to me. (but I'm clearly wrong again)

Reefing102 · Jan 31, 2023

Looks like brown star polyps (Briareum sp.)

ISpeakForTheSeas · Jan 31, 2023

Perhaps an encrusting gorgonian species of some kind?

Some sort of color less green star polyps? I'd please

I picked this up at the lfs for $10. I've had it for two months and haven't be able to Id it. It's growing on a mat like a green star polyp and is spreading down the frag plug.

www.reef2reef.com

Edit: just to add, it looks like each polyp has 8 tentacles on it, so I'd guess it's some kind of octocoral (soft corals, gorgonians, etc.), but I'm not sure which kind.

Jack20120 · Jan 31, 2023

Thanks for all the responses. I'm not sure if I should be excited about small coral in my new tank or panic and try to kill all of it?

IKD · Jan 31, 2023

Watch how quickly these spread and you’ll get a good idea if you should remove or at least isolate to a rock island to prevent infestation

Eagle_Steve · Jan 31, 2023

Jack20120 said:
My 90-g tank has been running for about 4 weeks. It's still cycling but with 60 lb of live rock. Some of the rock is starting to come to live.

We can't ID these little tree looking things that are growing on one of the live rocks. It seems isolated to one side of one of the live rock pieces. They have grown slowly over the past few weeks.

Any idea what these are / should we try to remove?

Where did the rock come from? For example, is this rock from an LFS? Or did it come from KP or Tampa Bay Live Rock, for example?

Knowing where the rock came from or if was collected in water off of FL coasts will help narrow down an ID.

vetteguy53081 · Jan 31, 2023

Looks like star polyps

I never finish anythi · Jan 31, 2023

Pipe organ coral , maybe ??

Tlledsmar · Jan 31, 2023

That's star polyps, kinda bleached out eh

vetteguy53081 · Jan 31, 2023

I never finish anythi said:
Pipe organ coral , maybe ??

My pipe organ frilly as below

vetteguy53081 · Jan 31, 2023

Cloves have palm tree like branches

Jack20120 · Feb 2, 2023

I have one more clue -- at night, these things shrink down into little balls or disappear all together.

brandon429 · Feb 2, 2023

your tank isn't cycling, it's been skip cycled. sixty pounds of live rock gets a tank ready on day 1, waiting longer doesnt help. there isn't any bioload in a reefing display that sixty pounds of cured/active live rock like that can't carry, on day one.

for use in our skip cycle study thread, can you post a full tank picture of this setup?

also for our use: nobody tried to sell you bottle bac for this cycle, correct? skip cycle setups don't use bottle bac, that's for strictly dry rock setups.

Jack20120 · Feb 2, 2023

brandon429 said:
your tank isn't cycling, it's been skip cycled. sixty pounds of live rock gets a tank ready on day 1, waiting longer doesnt help. there isn't any bioload in a reefing display that sixty pounds of cured/active live rock like that can't carry, on day one.

for use in our skip cycle study thread, can you post a full tank picture of this setup?

also for our use: nobody tried to sell you bottle bac for this cycle, correct? skip cycle setups don't use bottle bac, that's for strictly dry rock setups.

Sure. Here's a photo with my cat. The one rock on the top left is dry. The rest is 60 lb of live in a 90 lb tank. I was told to pour in a bottle of live bacteria, yes. It's blooming here.