Please help identify this

[Jeremy Hull]

15187423659121387814179

• Jeremy Hull
• Feb 15, 2018

Hello everyone
I'll start by saying I am very inexperienced. I had recently swapped tanks I used all my old sand and water in the new tank, yet for some reason my ammonia levels spiked causing me to lose most of my corals. I have very few things left that I'm trying to bring back. One of which is this rock which has zoas that I haven't seen opened in a week or two I'm not sure if it's still alive. It now appears to have something growing in it that I'm hoping to get help identifying so I can addess it. It's yellow/greenish in color

 

[BootyPup]

Honestly, I can't really tell, is it possible to get another picture without the blues? It could be some type of algae taking hold? Maybe a mucus from something? I don't exactly know from this though.

 

[Jeremy Hull]

I'm sorry for the poor pictures I'm really struggling with getting a good picture of it

 

[Codeman28]

Is it hard(like encrusting) it soft like a sponge of sort

 

[Jeremy Hull]

It's hard

 

[Codeman28]

The ammonia spike mostly likely came from stirring up your sand. And for the "new growth" a better pic might help to Id like bootypup said.

 

[wattson]

Looks like zoa fungus,,but a clearer brighter picture would be nice without all the blue in it...

 

[Crabs McJones]

15187423659121387814179

• Jeremy Hull
• Feb 15, 2018

Hello everyone
I'll start by saying I am very inexperienced. I had recently swapped tanks I used all my old sand and water in the new tank, yet for some reason my ammonia levels spiked causing me to lose most of my corals. I have very few things left that I'm trying to bring back. One of which is this rock which has zoas that I haven't seen opened in a week or two I'm not sure if it's still alive. It now appears to have something growing in it that I'm hoping to get help identifying so I can addess it. It's yellow/greenish in color

The reason your ammonia levels spiked was because you used your old sand. What happens is when you disturb your sand bed, you release alot of detritus and other stuff that has settled in your sand bed into the water column, and your bacteria goes nuts consuming it, and is not able to break it down into nitrate fast enough. Whenever changing tanks, its always best to use brand new sand. Keep up with your water changes to keep the levels down until everything calms down. Zoas are pretty resilient and should bounce back unless they start melting away.