Growth on LR?

[synofreak]

Hello all. I'm a noob but have been keeping SW FOWLR tank for 2 years. Its currently a 120g self contained. I have a growth on some LR and it seems to be spreading very rapidly. It appears as small whitish branches covered in a clear whitsh slime. Some are longer 1", most shorter and almost looking like a clear aquarium sealant covered branch. NitrAtes were bad recently. Any idea what it is? Looks bad to me. Any help appreciated.

[swisha]

Any Pics?

[synofreak]

[IMG][/IMG]

[JaredWaites]

Looks like it might be an area of low flow?

What are you water parameters?

[synofreak]

Nitrates= 30ish, phosphates 3-5 outta tap,PH 8.1 same from tap, 1.022 and hard water. PRIME for conditioner.

[gig]

interestingly enough, I am getting a similar fuzzy white, sometimes with filaments growing all over my tank and it's getting to be a real nusaince. i think it has to do with the degradation of my ro/di water

[synofreak]

New pick. Getting worse, kinda fuzzy also. Pulled the rocks to the front to observe. Anyone have any ideas?

[gig]

is it growing on the glass as well? or on pumps, or piping in the tank?

[synofreak]

Nope, basically contained to the 2 rocks. Ive put them in the open and in good flow, so I'll see what it does and take a pic tomorrow. Forgot to mention, only running standard florescent for a few months since PC took a crap. So low light growth is a friend of this thing. No corals in the tank, just a few shrooms.

[otiso777]

They look like syconoid sponges in that second picture.

[synofreak]

Starting to think they are a type of sponge. Only pic I could find that looked close, was a florescent tube sponge pic(cant remember where) that looked big and defined, but not "hard" like other sponge pics I've seen. Should I scrub the rocks? or let it ride? If it is sponges, do they normally spread and take over a rock?Is this type bad? Seems like "slime red" algea I had a year ago, but clear/white with tentacles inside. I owe it up to water quality, but still need to make it right. Thanks for all the help =).

[otiso777]

If they turn out to be sponges then they are good. They help filter the water

[ServantSoldier]

i saw something that looked like these in a fish only system about a month after startup. They stuck around for about 6 weeks and started to diminish.

[TheOtherReefer]

Look like sponges. Those types of sponges usually grow in low light areas. It is not that common for them to grow out in the open light. They frequent sumps, refugiums, and overflows because of the low light and high volume of nutrient contents in those areas.