BLACK leather?! .. also, possible fungus?

[ronnieroach]

hello all,

just bought this piece of coral .. it seems to have a BLACK leather woven in the polyps .. take a look and tell me what you think .. if you look close it has little bumps (or whatever you call them) that come out more with lighting ..

also in the pics is a whiter patch of polyps, which my friend says is fungus .. i tried pulling it off with tweasers but it is completely attached to (or part of) the polyp .. ANY IDEAS?!?

thanks for any and all help!!
- ronnie

 

[ronnieroach]

sorry! heres the pics!

 

[ronnieroach]

Nobody?!?

 

[kdpuffer]

Looks like sponges to me.

 

[mr_X]

I think sponge also. I would try to remove it or it may choke out your zoas. It's definitely competing for real estate.

 

[ronnieroach]

thanks mr_x & kd .. the funny thing is that it lets the zoas that its on top of open fully ..

i'm planning on fragging that piece big time so i'll probably separate it next weekend

should i boot it or let it grow on its own?

 

[mr_X]

It's up to you. Not the most attractive creatures on the planet, but alive just the same.

 

[ronnieroach]

its a wild lookin thing .. might transplant it somewhere if it doesnt do any harm

 

[ronnieroach]

this pic shows its happy lumps better