Plating algaes or Sponges?

[MrBubble47]

Hello, what are these plating things growing in my Fiji live rock?

 

[Timfish]

Maybe, but I think a thick mat of cyano is a more likely explaination.

 

[Seabiscuit]

It has definite ridges. If you lift up a small piece from the edge, does it hold its shape? Sponges hold their shape. Cyano film sections lose their shape immediately when lifted and change into ribbon shapes. Could you have someone take a video of you lifting a small section?

 

[Timfish]

It has definite ridges. If you lift up a small piece from the edge, does it hold its shape? Sponges hold their shape. Cyano film sections lose their shape immediately when lifted and change into ribbon shapes. Could you have someone take a video of you lifting a small section?

Most of the time cyano does only grow in thin films that spread over everything. If conditions are right though it can stay in one place and just grow a thick pad and it will look much like some kind of sponge. The red coloration is also more indicative of cyano than sponge.

 

[MrBubble47]

It has definite ridges. If you lift up a small piece from the edge, does it hold its shape? Sponges hold their shape. Cyano film sections lose their shape immediately when lifted and change into ribbon shapes. Could you have someone take a video of you lifting a small section?

Hey Seabiscuit!

I've touched it and it feels very very firm, i couldn't lift it at all.

Here's a video to try to better show you this stuff.

 

[Seabiscuit]

Hey Seabiscuit!

I've touched it and it feels very very firm, i couldn't lift it at all.

Here's a video to try to better show you this stuff.

I don't see any pores that sponges usually have. It looks too thick to be coraline algae. Would it be possible to ask the people whom you got your live rock from?

 

[Seabiscuit]

I enlarged the video size to double and did see a few possible pores. It could be a red plating sponge.

 

[MrBubble47]

I enlarged the video size to double and did see a few possible pores. It could be a red plating sponge.

Whatever it may be, I've got it in three different colors: orange, purple and greenish and it looks like it's growing and getting larger. Would be interesting to know for sure what it is though...

 

[Seabiscuit]

Bump-ity

 

[MrBubble47]

The orange one has grow quite a bit.

 

[BanjoBandito]

Ya know....I was watching a BRS video about Adam's 360 and they were discussing stuff just like this....they eventually found out it's under-developed coralline algae of some sort, basically a mutation....and it would either go away on it's own, or absorb enough Magnesium that it would become coralline. Maybe that's it if it's not cyano???

 

[MrBubble47]

Update 06/11/2021