unidentified growth

Hi, Can anybody identify this purple growth and is it ok to leave in the tank
thanks tony

Mate I would say with out a close up or how one feels, it could be a form of cyano algae,coraline, a possible sponge or an Ascidion infestation, get a knife and scratch one off with some of the coral it is growing on and then feel it and smell it, everything to get a feel of what it is.

If it is slimy,is it hard or encrusted, if it is like sponge, if it squeezes out internal organs, is it in the high flow areas, in the light, out of the light, any of these will give you an idea as to what life form it is.

But that amount in there is to much of anything, scratch some off and reduce them with out killing it until out of the tank just in case it contains toxins, you can never be to care full with a marine eco system!

I was told it may be a sponge variety called Collospongia auris,it looks similar?

I scraped some off and its skin is like a grape soft smooth very spongy, clear slimey liquid inside with no smell at all.

[img:32ac]https://i1103.photobucket.com/albums/g467/tony-malcolmson/DSCF2939-1.jpg[/img:32ac]

Mate its red bubble algae, a type of cyano.

Keep it down in numbers and do not let the fluid come out in the tank,its toxic.

I thought it was cyano.

There is no way to keep it from your tank but to physically get it off your live rock,sorry!

One thing though that form of cyano was here before most life on earth,not much of a plus for you though hey.

If your waters gets to 28c or so it will release toxins as its spores under 27c,it isn’t a prob,but get rid of it the more gone the better.

Thankyou for the info I will endevour to get rid of it

if you squeeze it, it will reproduce, and take over all of your rocks. the best way to deal with it is to take it out of the tank, and try to peel it off of the rock without busting the bubbles. You can also take a razor blade and scrape it off of the rock. just rinse the rock very good prior to placing it back in your tank. it is definitely something you want to get rid of quicker than later.

I used a blade and scraped it of the rock, but could not get rid of the little orange stems, will they grow back from these.
I have since noticed it growing in my overflow weir on the glass, looks like I might be in for a bit of work.