Green star polyp problem?

[Ent]

Hi,

Long time lurker, first time poster as they say... Not sure if this post should go in the new reefkeepers forum or the hitchhiker ID forum so feel free to move it if it's not in the appropriate place.

I recently got into the hobby and purchased a 12 gallon nanocube 2 months ago and I love it!

Last Friday, I added a small green star polyp to my reef. It didn't take long for it to open up in all its splendor but on Sunday night, it just retracted into its rock (is that the right term?).

I didn't think much of it then, what with being in a new tank and all that but today, when I came back from work, it looked as if some thick dark green goo with little air bubbles started forming on the GSP rock (mostly on areas that had little to no polyps back when they were opened).

Also, there seems to be a tentacled-thing coming out from the rock the GSP is on. It's not doing much but it looks like it shouldn't belong there.

So here are my questions:

1- Any idea what the green goo that's been growing on the rock is? It doesn't seem like algae to me but I could be wrong.
2- Any idea what the tentacled thing is (sorry about crummy picture quality, best I could do with my camera)? I don't think it's one of my polyps (it's white, not green!) but I really don't know enough about reef-keeping to be sure.

Water parameters were normal on Friday night (before I added my GSP) and are normal today:

-no ammonia, nitrite or nitrate
-8.0 PH
-decent salinity
-390 Ca (trying to raise it a bit)
-0.1 phosphate
-"High" alkalinity (using a red sea test kit which only measures as low, medium or high)
-77F to 80F temperature

Inhabitants:
-1 electric blue hermit crab
-3, er, plain? hermit crabs
-1 cleaner shrimp
-1 turbo snail
-1 colt coral (about 4 inches away from the GSP)
-1 finger leather coral (devil's hand, I think)
-1 feather duster

Last (and first) water change (15-20%) was made on 07/30/04.

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[tazdevil]

1- Any idea what the green goo that's been growing on the rock is? It doesn't seem like algae to me but I could be wrong.

Looks to be green slime algae. I'd try "blowing" it off with tank water, in the tank (turkey baster works well) and then sucking out what's blown off.

2- Any idea what the tentacled thing is (sorry about crummy picture quality, best I could do with my camera)? I don't think it's one of my polyps (it's white, not green!) but I really don't know enough about reef-keeping to be sure.

Sorry, cant help you there. If you could get a head on pic, that might help (turn the rock to get picture).

 

[ChrisRD]

The slime algae was probably present on the rock before and might be growing out now because of differences in your system (ie. lighting, nutrient levels, circulation, lack of grazing, etc.). You're showing plenty of phosphate which is the primary nutrient for many microalgaes.

As for the mystery hitchhiker - it could be an aptasia, but I can't really tell from the pic.

 

[krullulon]

what does "decent salinity" mean?

 

[Ent]

Thanks for replies so far, guys.

Here's a (hopefully) better picture of the unknown critter. To tell you the truth, I'm starting to think that it might just be an additional polyp growing on my GSP but it looks different than the full grown polyps so far (and it's not green... yet!)

Oh, and my GSP's started coming out again but only in several areas so my rock looks a little weird, still. Could the slime algae (assuming that's what it is) be the cause of their reluctance to come out? Or is it most likely to be the unknown critter? If it really is an aiptasia, I suppose that could be the cause from what little I've read about them...

Or maybe it's just getting used to my aquarium still?

what does "decent salinity" mean?

It means 1.023 (granted that might be borderline low!). I can't remember the salinity level scale yet so I didn't want to risk saying 1.23 or 1.0023 and getting "uhhh... something's wrong with your salinity" answers!

 

[krullulon]

what does "decent salinity" mean?

It means 1.023 (granted that might be borderline low!). I can't remember the salinity level scale yet so I didn't want to risk saying 1.23 or 1.0023 and getting "uhhh... something's wrong with your salinity" answers!

heheh...

your hitch-hiker looks like aiptasia to me! http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inver ... ptasia.htm

 

[J.Howard]

The hitchhiker is sure to be aiptasia. KILL IT NOW!! BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!!! Seriously, take a good look at it. If it has a trunk like an anemone, get some Joe's Juice, use hot kalk etc. to get rid of it before it spreads. They can take over a small tank pretty fast. Believe me I know... Also remove any detritus from the rocks when you blow the slime algae away. Aiptasia like to settle on dirty rocks.

 

[Ent]

Just thought I'd throw in an update. I bought some Joe's Juice and used it on the aiptasia and it seems to be gone for now (knock on wood).

Also, I got rid of the algae using a turkey blaster and that worked quite well! Glad I learned that trick as it spread a bit on my featherduster's tube and on some other rocks. Aside from a little bit of hair algae, everything is under control and my GSP seems to be quite happy now (well, that goes for everything else too)!

Thanks again for the help!

 

[Anonymous]

That looks really nice, Ent!