What is growing on my zoa rock

shibbyplustax · Feb 28, 2014

Can i get and id of what is taking over this rock with zoas on it? When i bought the rock there was a little fleck of red on it, now it seems to be taking over an bothering the zoas. Any help would be greatly aprreciated.

stylaster · Feb 28, 2014

looks like a type of algae

shibbyplustax · Feb 28, 2014

Yea thats what i was thinking too. Its hard and brittle though

Mike J. · Feb 28, 2014

Lobophora.

skinz78 · Feb 28, 2014

It's a calcerous type of algae, I have it in my tank too.

Intricateart · Feb 28, 2014

Seaweed Biology: Novel Insights into Ecophysiology, Ecology and Utilization - Christian Wiencke, Kai Bischof - Google Books

Intricateart · Feb 28, 2014

That should take you to a bookmark of the description of your algae

look up calciferous maroon coraline to find pictures.

Mike J. · Feb 28, 2014

Here's a link you can just click:

STRI - Office of Bioinformatics - Metas

Intricateart · Feb 28, 2014

Mike J. said:
Lobophora.

I politely disagree with that ID

Mike J. · Feb 28, 2014

Intricateart said:
I politely disagree with that ID

Well, thanks for pointing that out. I have made a mistake, I went by looks alone. Then, after being corrected, went back and saw he said it was hard and brittle . Lobophora would be gelatinous and rubbery. I'm glad you corrected my mistake.

Mesophyllum sp. is usually purplish or pinkish. So, I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest another algae, Peyssonnelia squamaria. Please take this one into consideration.

Peyssonnelia squamaria

Intricateart · Mar 2, 2014

I was literally holding my breath, I've never had to disagree openly with someone on here before LOL so many other forums are..... lets say 'bitey'. I agree with you assessment, although our mesophyllum is maroon, but it could be either.