what the heck is this?

[tdileo]

I just stumbled upon one of the few things I have not been able to ID. Anybody have a clue as to what it is? It’s actually really beautiful but I don’t have the slightest idea to what it is.

Sorry for the poor photo. It is the orange speckled blob next to my flower anemone.

 

[samnaz]

Hm... hard to tell but it looks like a tunicate or sponge. Do polyps or tentacles come out at all during the day or night, or does it always look like that?

 

[MSB123]

can you point it out? maybe circle it in a bright color?

 

[DSC reef]

Looks like the base of the rockflower nem. From what I can see anyway. There's also bubble algae

 

[Oldsalt01]

If ur talking about the jade green orbs throughout the pic......... you got yerself one heck of a crop of the dreaded bubble algae. Usually means ur nutrients are through the roof and now ya got an issue that you need to deal with.... carefully. Under NO circumstances break or pop the bubbles. That will only spread the spores and make the situation worse. That means: DON'T ADD AN EMERALD CRAB!!!! I went through an outbreak last summer and the situation got so bad I ended up sterilizing the tank, swapping out my LR with my LFS who wanted the BA for his Tangs, and practically starting over. Fortunately I skipped the cycle and got some cool hitchhikers on the new LR to boot. You may be showing "0" phosphates like I did, but it turned out the BA was up-taking the phosphates before they would show on a test. There are chemicals you can add to kill it but I personally try to keep additives to a very minimum, as they usually have not-so-cool side effects.

 

[tdileo]

Hm... hard to tell but it looks like a tunicate or sponge. Do polyps or tentacles come out at all during the day or night, or does it always look like that?

This is my first time seeing it. Tunicates was my original thought too.

 

[tdileo]

can you point it out? maybe circle it in a bright color?

It’s the white thing in the center of the photo with orange specks. If you still can’t see I can circle it

 

[MSB123]

Oh- got it

 

[tdileo]

Looks like the base of the rockflower nem. From what I can see anyway. There's also bubble algae

I thought about that too but the base of that one has never looked like that before now and none of my other flower bases look like that

 

[MSB123]

it almost looks like the tail end of a orange-spotted goby

 

[tdileo]

If ur talking about the jade green orbs throughout the pic......... you got yerself one heck of a crop of the dreaded bubble algae. Usually means ur nutrients are through the roof and now ya got an issue that you need to deal with.... carefully. Under NO circumstances break or pop the bubbles. That will only spread the spores and make the situation worse. That means: DON'T ADD AN EMERALD CRAB!!!! I went through an outbreak last summer and the situation got so bad I ended up sterilizing the tank, swapping out my LR with my LFS who wanted the BA for his Tangs, and practically starting over. Fortunately I skipped the cycle and got some cool hitchhikers on the new LR to boot. You may be showing "0" phosphates like I did, but it turned out the BA was up-taking the phosphates before they would show on a test. There are chemicals you can add to kill it but I personally try to keep additives to a very minimum, as they usually have not-so-cool side effects.

I know about bubble algae haha, and my experiences with emerald crabs are just fine. My nutrients have never been high; the tank is mostly SPS. The bubble algae just likes to grow in patches for some reason, but it’s spread throughout the tank.

 

[DSC reef]

I know about bubble algae haha, and my experiences with emerald crabs are just fine. My nutrients have never been high; the tank is mostly SPS. The bubble algae just likes to grow in patches for some reason, but it’s spread throughout the tank.

I have plenty as well

 

[tdileo]

I have plenty as well

I got it early on in my tanks life cycle and liked the look of just a few so I left them. Then it seems like over a week they just exploded. Fortunately not close to smothering anything though haha

 

[Oldsalt01]

It seems so innocent, and kind of attractive, when it starts. And then BOOM, it's EVERYWHERE! ;Blackeye

 

[Bret Brinkmann]

Does it move? There should be an opening somewhere if it's a truncate, right? Maybe a sea cucumber?

While we are off topic, does everyone else's bubble algae grow in higher flow areas of their tanks? Someone mentioned that they hold nutrients inside themselves. So when they are popped they release the nutrients and aid in more growth. I have half a mind to get a young tang just so it will eat the bubble algae and then give it to the lfs when it is done or gets too big from my tank.

 

[Daltrey]

You need to figure out how to eliminate the bubble algea.

 

[tdileo]

Okay guys, stop bringing up the bubble algae lol. It doesn’t kill anything, just looks ugly. I’m just trying to determine what the white and orange creature is.

 

[Oldsalt01]

How about a pic where we can actually see what this thing looks like. Or maybe answer some of our questions, like: does it move, are those nematocysts on the back, does it extend tentacles at night or at all, is there a hole in the end? More info would help. We can't give you answers with the info we have.

 

[samnaz]

Another pic with the tank lights on instead of flash may help.

 

[fragguy]

Rock Flower nem base.