???? Red coral has white mucus looking coating forming ????

[DRIFTER]

I got some live rock the other day and one of the peices was half covered in what i think is coral . It is orange and smoothe and it is fleshy to the touch.

The new rock was put into a new tank i just started and im in the process of cycling the tank. I have not had the lights on this whole first week to avoid algea blooms from forming. I noticed that the red coral looking stuff started to become covered in a white mucus layer. I gently scrapped away some of the white and it was still redish orange underneath. Any idea what is happening ???

 

[fishfreek]

Instead of doing a total blackout on the lights I would avocate a shorter photo period if your worried about an algae bloom. It could be a few things. If it is indeed a coral (im a little sceptable from the description) then it could be 'sliming' as a protective measure. If its a sponge then it could be that the sponge is dieing off due to exposure to air and the white layer is due to that.

 

[DRIFTER]

Im not shure it is a coral either in fact you may be rite maybe its a sponge.

Im still not to good at identifying things yet.