Coral ID Please
Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Specialized Discussion
Forum Name: SPS
Forum Description: This is the place to ask questions SPS corals.
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=41194
Printed Date: November 19 2025 at 7:53pm
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Topic: Coral ID Please
Posted By: Lexnano
Subject: Coral ID Please
Date Posted: May 24 2010 at 10:20am
Can anyone ID this coral. This guy started growing out of nowhere. The tank was established for about 2 years before this started coming up. It has grown about 5 inches in 3 months. It is a soft coral but not sure what it is. 
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Replies:
Posted By: P.Kapp
Date Posted: May 24 2010 at 10:42am
| Looks like a sponge to me |
Posted By: Chad
Date Posted: May 24 2010 at 10:56am
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might be a funky algae ------------- What?! You pooped in the refrigerator, and ate the entire wheel of cheese?! I'm not even mad.... That's actually amazing! |
Posted By: Lexnano
Date Posted: May 24 2010 at 2:42pm
| It's hard to see from the pic but it's actually more cylindrical rather than flat. |
Posted By: badger126
Date Posted: May 24 2010 at 5:32pm
| If it's cylindrical my bet is sponge, there's lots of sponges that grow like that. |
Posted By: Ricordia
Date Posted: May 24 2010 at 8:18pm
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Looks like some kind of tunicate, a sea squirt maybe?
------------- Rich Allen Murray, UT 150g Leemar Starfire reef tank with a 40g sump 75g planted freshwater with tetras |
Posted By: Aquaristnewbie
Date Posted: May 24 2010 at 8:25pm
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It looks pretty similar to some red valonia that I have. Some spots it is bubbles and a few are like this and others plate out like a monti ------------- 150 gallon Reef Millcreek Utah |
Posted By: Lexnano
Date Posted: May 24 2010 at 9:20pm
| I researched sea squirts and valonias but it doesn't looks like either of those. Maybe it's a sponge but it is more gelatin like in texture. |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: May 25 2010 at 9:52am
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So it's not hollow? If it were flat I would definitely say it is algae. Looks like a fish has been picking the ends. What fish would that be? Can we see a full tank pic? I disagree that it is a soft coral. If not algae, which it has a very striking color resemblance to, then it is most likely a tunicate, as was already mentioned. Great pic btw.  ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: Jasob
Date Posted: May 25 2010 at 4:56pm
I've got some in my tank that is very similar. It seems to fork at the ends, not get picked on by fish. It has not hurt anything so I have left it.
 ------------- Jason Tooele, UT |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: May 25 2010 at 9:53pm
Look at this sponge which I call color changing sponge! It's white in the lower light areas   ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: Chad
Date Posted: May 26 2010 at 4:11am
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Codium maybe, that pic looks a lot like codium to me Mark. Which would explain the turning white in dark areas because of the lack of light. ------------- What?! You pooped in the refrigerator, and ate the entire wheel of cheese?! I'm not even mad.... That's actually amazing! |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: May 26 2010 at 9:56am
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That's what I would have thought too, but Codium is an algae. (I was pleased to actually see it growing in Hawaii waters and it was also dried and packaged for sale in the grocery store as a food.) Those three pics are of a Sponge. The white stuff grows just as well as the black and dark green variety. Jeff has lot of the dark kind, maybe even too much of it in his tank. It is the only thing I have found, of all the marine organisms I've ever kept, that irritates me when just barely touch it. It doesn't bother other people like it bothers me. 
------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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