Interesting bright pink growth (pic)

[mooner]

Whatever this is has doubled in size no less that 3 times in the last 9 days in my very new tank. It developed these pointy arms in the last few days. It's on the far right. Any takers?

I am new to the hobby so I haven't a clue what most of this is other than the mushrooms so feel free to give me a schoolin' on all this marine life!

Thanks.

 

[Bleeding Blue]

I see mushrooms, feather dusters, and either sponges or tunicits (probably both,) but I am not sure that I see a pink thing with pointy arms?

Mike

 

[mooner]

The pink thing is just below the large fan on the right side of the pic. The arms are rather tiny...more like a pinapple with spikes.

Here is a mag of the area...

 

[Bleeding Blue]

That looks to me like either a sponge or a colonial tunicate. They are both innocuous filter feeders that you will find growing from time to time. Also, I think the thing you call a sea fan is actually a feather duster worm. It is a tube dwelling marine worm that uses its frilly gills to filter small particles out of the water. A sea fan is usually referring to a type of soft coral called a gorgonian. These corals secrete a stiff skeleton made of gorgan, and often look like little trees.

If you are new to the hobby, you should buy a book on aquarium invertebrates. There are a number of great ones out there, and many of the authors will post on this board from time to time. Good luck, and keep posting lots of pics.

Mike

 

[mooner]

Thanks Bleeding Blue!

I really appreciate your help.

Now, I did something dumb...please help. I checked my water today and all was great but the Ph was between 8.0 and 8.1. I added some proper Ph 8.2 by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. I added less than a half dose (I added .33 scoop per 10 gallons as opposed to the recommended 1 scoop per 10). I mixed the stuff with 1/2 gallon of my aquarium water and poured it slowly into my sump tank. This soon brought my Ph up to just under 8.2 but my mushroom coral shriveled up and two blew out their inards. You can see the sad guys on my reef cam in my signature.

I am at a loss for what to do. I have watched them sit for 4 hours now and they seem to be getting some color back and have retracted thier guts but I am very worried.

Is this proper Ph stuff poison or what? Help is much appreciated.

I also have posted this on the proper forum.

 

[Bleeding Blue]

Mooner,

This is probably not the best place to give advice on this subject, and I am by far not the most knowledgeable on this board. To get some really good advice, you should post a thread about your problem in the general reefkeeping forum.

As far as your problem, here it goes.

There is nothing you can really do to help the mushrooms right now. Hopefully they will adjust to the new ph and will return to their normal state. The reason that they shriveled up is because they have no defense toward the rapid change in ph. Corals are animals that have lived in the same conditions since the thaw of the last ice age. Essentially, because there is very little change in their environment, there has been no reason for them to evolve a way to adjust to such changes. Some people even consider them living fossils. (And it is theorized that some anemone have been alive since the thaw of the ice ages, but I am digressing.) Thus, it is the captive reefkeepers job to basically keep the water chemistry as static as possible. Thus, if you decide to change your ph, you need to drip the buffer into the tank over a period of several days so that there is no shock to your system. However, you probably don't want to change your ph at all.

This brings me to my second point. I don't know what test kits and meters you are using, but many of them are not very good. Most people around here suggest the salifert test kits. (At least I do. To get real opinions you should start a thread.) Even with these test kits, I find that the ph when read from a colored bar is not very accurate, and I use a ph meter, which are not terribly expensive to purchase. Furthermore, your animals are probably perfectly happy with a ph of 8.1., and there is no reason to change. You can adjust the ph slowly by adjusting some of your tank maintenance strategies.

Eric Borneman (sp.) wrote a book called Corals, that I suggest that you buy and read. It was my first coral book, and although it is a little old (2001 I think) it is a great place to start. In his book one of his major themes is that a reefkeeper should never take quick action. These animals live for thousands of years, and it is the impatiens of the reefkeeper that will have the most detrimental effect.

Good luck. Keep asking questions and posting pictures.

Mike

 

[mooner]

Thank you , Bleeding Blue fo the reply.

I will take your advice and read up on corals. I am determined now to just leave this tank as is for 6 weeks. At that time I will look into all this again.

The corals look a lot better today (see cam) and they might just make it.

I really appreciate you advice and the time you took to give all the details.

I am using a fasTesT kit made by those who make Instant Ocean sea salt. It may be average at best. I will have my water analized professionally very soon to feel more certain about my tanks health.

Thanks again hope to talk to you soon.

 

[Anonymous]

That pink thing may also be a foraminiferian a tyoe if single celled colonial animal with a shell - very common on live rock , the purplish pink ones the most common.

Some information on foraminifera if you're interested.

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/foram/foramintro.html

 

[Anonymous]

It looks me like a foramniferan as well--common filter feeding hitchiker. You can usually spot transparent "hairs" sticking out of the pink part.