There's a forest growing on my live rock...

[nikki_kaiser]

I normally buy plain Figi live rock. My LFS dude gave me this so I put it in my little tank. Can anyone tell me what all the stuff is on it???











What's the green thing????

 

[Mrc8858]

Halimedia, sun polyps, and a sponge

 

[Mrc8858]

I may be wrong about the second one though but if it has yellow/orange polyps when extended that's it. There's another kind that looks very similar but both are nps

 

[Schism]

I may be wrong about the second one though but if it has yellow/orange polyps when extended that's it. There's another kind that looks very similar but both are nps

Im thinking second one is Dendrophylia.

 

[Mrc8858]

Im thinking second one is Dendrophylia.

That's what I was thinking but couldn't remember for the life of me the name just knew it was like the sun coral haha

 

[Schism]

That's what I was thinking but couldn't remember for the life of me the name just knew it was like the sun coral haha

If i could remember every name in this hobby I would be scared of myself.

 

[nikki_kaiser]

So should I leave it on there? What's the red/pink stick looking stuff sticking off of it? You have to look really close. Sorry!

 

[Mrc8858]

In the second pic? Spiraloid worms I believe. Everything I've named so far is fine and halimedia actually grows the same as coral using calcium so they are a good indicator of water quality

 

[nikki_kaiser]

Hold up...worms??????? The red stick things don't move though.

 

[nikki_kaiser]

Here's a better pic of the red stick things

 

[Mrc8858]

They are like featherdusters building a shell and release a little thread like web into the water and snag little pieces of food from the water kinda cool actually. Check out my thread "the race for life. Who will win?" Kinda interesting lol

 

[Mrc8858]

Actually I'm not sure now. That may be a sponge or macro algae. A macro lense would help lol

 

[nikki_kaiser]

So how do I get the polyps to open? They don't look very healthy to me. All that stuff is safe for my tank? I put it in that little holding tank because I saw a red earthworm looking thing on it and was trying to decide how to get it off. I know worms are good for your tank but I REALLY REALLY dislike worms!

 

[Mrc8858]

Ya i hate em to but nps need a nice overhang or something to shield them from the light but they can be very touchy so it may not make it if it was an unknown hitchhiker. everything should be fine but keep in mind if you introduce it in your DT then it may begin to spread so if you don't like how any of it looks then remove it.

 

[nikki_kaiser]

I will try it under low lights in this little tank first while I do some research on them. I don't want them spreading all over but i wouldn't mind that little batch. Thank you both for your help!!

 

[Schism]

Yes nikki everything should be fine, one thing to note though is that dendrophylia is non-photosynthetic, meaning it gets all its energy from food, so it requires regular feeding of some meaty bits every other day or every couple days. I usually just feed mine a small squirt of mysis when im feeding the tank. pretty easy. Only try to feed when the polyps are out though.

 

[nikki_kaiser]

How do I get them to open up???

 

[Schism]

How do I get them to open up???

They should open on there own if they were in good health when you bought them. If they were closed then it might be the lfs didnt care for them properly. As im sure your water quality is fine, give em a few days to see if they open, check at night also. Once they do/if then a good feeding will do them some good.

 

[nikki_kaiser]

Ok so I know this thread is older but for an update, those polyp looking things are hard. I put gloves on and touched them and they feel like what coral would feel like. Are polyps supposed to be hard?

 

[jsmith]

Ok so I know this thread is older but for an update, those polyp looking things are hard. I put gloves on and touched them and they feel like what coral would feel like. Are polyps supposed to be hard?

Are they open yet? I cant see the older pic can you post new one?