**SKIP BELOW IF YOU DONT CARE ABOUT BACKSTORY**
I have had this tank (10 gal nano) running for roughly 1 to 2 months now. I got a few base rocks in it, and 4 live rocks I bought from two different LFS(two frags from each shop). I got no livestock in it at the moment, just trying to cycle the tank fully and get some Coralline algea growing on the base rock.
ANYWAY, last week I noticed a weird growth on one of my live rock frags. I tried to scrape it off with my turkey baster(I bought it for the tank, dont ask) but it was hard and didnt move. So I brushed it off as just a weird part of the rock.
Well ever since then the object in question has been bothering me, so today I decided to mess with it again some more. This time I basted some of the tank water on it. The object in question sort of retracted into itself. A few minutes later it was back to normal.
So obviously this is not just some messed up part of rock. I am assuming it's also not some form of algae, since it reacted to the direct water movement on it.
With that said, I started to look into what it could be. I'm new to saltwater, so I wont pretend I know everything (or anything for that matter). Either way, I have narrowed it (to the extent of my knowledge) to cyanobacteria, or some form of sponge, but it still stumps me. I'd think if it was cyanobacteria, it would have spread to more then just that one place within the past week, or grown to a larger size.
In other words, I'm stumped. I'm also tired and I apologize for the long story/explination I gave with this.
Any help in identifying this...thing...would be greatly appreciated. My levels have been stable and normal for about 2 weeks now, and I would really like to get some coral and a few fish in the tank. But I would like to take care of this first if it is a threat to the tank in any way.
(p.s. if anyone has some recommendations as to what I should get for a CUC, id also appreciate that.)
**ok you can stop skipping now, backstory is done.**
Oh, and here are two pictures of the object in question. The first is not zoomed in as far. The object is whitish with a orangeish/pinkish color on its right side. The object itself is lovated on the top right part of the whiter rock in the picture. The second picture is zoomed in as far as I can zoom in with my phones camera. Figured id include it incase anyone wants/needs a slightly better close up of it.
I have had this tank (10 gal nano) running for roughly 1 to 2 months now. I got a few base rocks in it, and 4 live rocks I bought from two different LFS(two frags from each shop). I got no livestock in it at the moment, just trying to cycle the tank fully and get some Coralline algea growing on the base rock.
ANYWAY, last week I noticed a weird growth on one of my live rock frags. I tried to scrape it off with my turkey baster(I bought it for the tank, dont ask) but it was hard and didnt move. So I brushed it off as just a weird part of the rock.
Well ever since then the object in question has been bothering me, so today I decided to mess with it again some more. This time I basted some of the tank water on it. The object in question sort of retracted into itself. A few minutes later it was back to normal.
So obviously this is not just some messed up part of rock. I am assuming it's also not some form of algae, since it reacted to the direct water movement on it.
With that said, I started to look into what it could be. I'm new to saltwater, so I wont pretend I know everything (or anything for that matter). Either way, I have narrowed it (to the extent of my knowledge) to cyanobacteria, or some form of sponge, but it still stumps me. I'd think if it was cyanobacteria, it would have spread to more then just that one place within the past week, or grown to a larger size.
In other words, I'm stumped. I'm also tired and I apologize for the long story/explination I gave with this.
Any help in identifying this...thing...would be greatly appreciated. My levels have been stable and normal for about 2 weeks now, and I would really like to get some coral and a few fish in the tank. But I would like to take care of this first if it is a threat to the tank in any way.
(p.s. if anyone has some recommendations as to what I should get for a CUC, id also appreciate that.)
**ok you can stop skipping now, backstory is done.**
Oh, and here are two pictures of the object in question. The first is not zoomed in as far. The object is whitish with a orangeish/pinkish color on its right side. The object itself is lovated on the top right part of the whiter rock in the picture. The second picture is zoomed in as far as I can zoom in with my phones camera. Figured id include it incase anyone wants/needs a slightly better close up of it.
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