red colored balls of something(now with pics)

[electrikat]

Our 20g has several new things including red flatworms but this thread is about something stranger. Several of the rocks are being colonized by some red ball shaped things. Most are round but some are flatter, they have a white line across the tops from one end to the other. Some of them remind me of shrooms but they are not flat but circular top to bottom. Sorta remind me of green bubble algae but feel more like corals. I guess the white line across them is the weirdest thing. I'm pretty sure I can't get a good picture. Any ideas.

 

[Fluff]

Colonial tunicats maybe? I had these on my rock and they would react when a fish passed over but they didn't last very long.

 

[electrikat]

The second picture is clearer and you can see that on the larger ones they become covered in orange spots.

 

[Fluff]

Wow, hmm. Perhaps sea squirts? They don't move do they?

 

[electrikat]

No they are just attached to the rock. I also have a chunk of rock that has a peice of fishing line tied around it( a previous try at fragging colt coral) and there are four of the red thing growing on the knotted end that is sticking out from the rock. they just start at the base and each is slightly above the other extending out to the end of the strand. Very cool looking. Is there such a thing as red bubble algae? This is not uniformly shaped and they are all different shapes and sizes. But the bigger they get the flatter they get.

 

[electrikat]

Ok, these things are just taking over the tank. Even the rocks with corals on them. Still no ideas out there. When you pull them off of the rocks they are filled with a clear slime. I'm about ready to give up on this tank. It's got every hitchhiker known to man and then some. Between the red flatworms and these red balls of slime, it's just not pretty anymore. However I don't dare move anything into the other tank for fear of cross contamination, and this is the tank with the maroon clown and the rbta's in it. I wouldn't mind losing the other stuff but the rbta's have got to be saved.

 

[steve-s]

The blobs sound more like a form of algae (valonia type) than a colonial coral. As far as the planaria, Flat worm exit will solve that.

Cheers
Steve

 

[electrikat]

Well I carefully detached the rbta's and moved them, the cleaners, and the fish to the 90g. I've bleached everything else including the live rock. I guess I'll give it a few days in fresh water then dry it out and put it in water to start it to cycling again. I'll probably try to trade it in at the fish store after repopulating it with bacteria. It was very sad to see all the little star fish floating in the water after bleaching, but very satisfying to see all the little brisleworms and flatworms floating and the red balls bleached out and dead. The maroon clown seems to be getting along well in the 90g without any fighting.

 

[JPloman]

I would tend to think algae as well. It kinda looks like bubble algae to me, but the coloring is wrong and the whole white and orange spot thing is kinda odd too. Can you take a photo when the regular lighting is on? The blue lights might be causing us to give us a wrong ID...

 

[electrikat]

They are all gone now due to bleaching in clorex and fresh water. Going to use these rocks for landscaping.