What is this black creep on Zoa?

[elBem80]

It seems to only be on this frag plug (that I can see). I only noticed this today which is surprising as it’s not insignificant! Does anyone know what this is? Should I be worried?

This Zoa has never fully opened for a significant amount of time and wouldn’t be surprised if it’s linked..

 

[Dburr1014]

Sponge

 

[elBem80]

Sponge

Should I be worried?

 

[Dburr1014]

Should I be worried?

There a few species of black sponge. Some grow fast some not so much. It will, either way, probably overtake the zoa.
IMO, remove it if you can.

Bare in mind, this is from a very blue Pic that's hard to see.

 

[landlubber]

There'll be a ton of this going on in your future with the system.
Corals, pests anemone's and algae are all constantly at war for turf. If you allow your tank to grow out the dominant species is always going to win.
you can easily save your zoas from losing by just scraping off the sponge

 

[cloak]

It looks like some type of algae IMO. Does it come off easily with your fingernail?

 

[elBem80]

Should I be worried?

There a few species of black sponge. Some grow fast some not so much. It will, either way, probably overtake the zoa.
IMO, remove it if you can.

Bear in mind, this is from a very blue Pic that's hard to see.

I’m not that sharp on taking decent non-blue images, sounds like I need an orange filter. Hopefully this is a little clearer!? It looks flat - almost like mould..

 

[elBem80]

It looks like some type of algae IMO. Does it off easily with your fingernail?

Does it risk spreading it if I attempt to scrub it off?

 

[elBem80]

There'll be a ton of this going on in your future with the system.
Corals, pests anemone's and algae are all constantly at war for turf. If you allow your tank to grow out the dominant species is always going to win.
you can easily save your zoas from losing by just scraping off the sponge

It sounds like this is the way. Would you remove the frag from the tank before?

 

[Dburr1014]

I’m not that sharp on taking decent non-blue images, sounds like I need an orange filter. Hopefully this is a little clearer!? It looks flat - almost like mould..

Oh, in that case,could just be coraline, it comes in many colors.

 

[landlubber]

It sounds like this is the way. Would you remove the frag from the tank before?

i personally would. If you're able to remove it from the rock you should be able to scrape it down to the plug a lot easier.

 

[OctaviusBrine]

Shine a flashlight on it. Its kinda hard to tell under the heavy blues. Could be a few different things.

 

[elBem80]

Shine a flashlight on it. Its kinda hard to tell under the heavy blues. Could be a few different things.

Ok there might be a few different things going on, there’s the black sponge? Mould looking stuff and then some kind of worm/parasite? I thought it was all the same thing under the blue lights…

 

[OctaviusBrine]

Ok there might be a few different things going on, there’s the black sponge? Mould looking stuff and then some kind of worm/parasite? I thought it was all the same thing under the blue lights…

To me it could be a sponge or even some weird turf algae. I would pull that plug out break off the pieces that have it on the plug, and then peroxide dip and lightly brush it. I have had turf algae become a nightmare once it spread.

 

[cloak]

Ok there might be a few different things going on, there’s the black sponge? Mould looking stuff and then some kind of worm/parasite? I thought it was all the same thing under the blue lights…

That purple coil in the second picture might be a Vermetid snail.
I still think that dark stuff is some type of algae though. Maybe Lobophora?