Most incredible "algae"!

Velodog2 · Nov 9, 2013

Saw something at a little LFS today in a nano on the counter. Guy said it arose spontaneously in a tank that had been running for a couple years. It had 5" long fluid filled fronds that looked like anemone tentacles. They were pinkish with small fluorescing orange beads at the tips. The fronds were grouped tightly together like an anemone as well. There was no body though. Each frond was attached separately to the rock. It was beautiful in the current. He said the clowns had eaten it back a coupla times.

I was so clever I took a video w my phone, but now I'm not clever enough to be able to upload it.

NanaReefer · Nov 10, 2013

Upload it to youtube or photobucket and then copy the link to this post.
I wanna seeeee!!!!

skinz78 · Nov 10, 2013

+1 pic's or it didn't happen!

ak_reefer · Nov 10, 2013

^^^^^ +1!! Sound very cool!

Spendley · Nov 10, 2013

Also curious!

Wkrout · Nov 10, 2013

Would also like to see the Video

Velodog2 · Nov 10, 2013

Whao. That was an ordeal! Anyway here it is. Any ID?

[video=youtube_share;sjFXUVaVMcY]http://youtu.be/sjFXUVaVMcY[/video]

Camkha1234 · Nov 10, 2013

Very cool. Interesting that it would just show up out of nowhere.

skinz78 · Nov 10, 2013

Crazy! I want!

Velodog2 · Nov 10, 2013

Lol. Yeah. There are the two main patches you see and then a couple more tiny growths other places. He said he would sell some if the new patches grew. I asked if he was going to name it Audrey Jr. He looked puzzled a second then laughed. I can't find a pic in Google or Bing images for red algae.

NanaReefer · Nov 10, 2013

Sure is awesome looking! See if you can find out where the rock came from.

Dalmatia · Nov 11, 2013

See if you can find out what it is cause I want that algae outbreak

Velodog2 · Nov 11, 2013

So far best I got is Halymenia elongata. Red finger algae. Haven't found mention of orange tips yet tho. There is also something called flame algae that is a different shape that has orange edges that could be related.

tektite · Nov 11, 2013

Not a type of Halymenia (flame algae is also a kind of Halymenia), with the round branches. Halymenia is flat. Predaea is closer, but never seen one with branches that long.

Velodog2 · Nov 11, 2013

This one is tubular, man.

Marine Plants in the Aquarium

Velodog2 · Nov 11, 2013

But I think u have something w the predaea. They can have orange tips.

Velodog2 · Mar 20, 2014

Stopped back in to the store that has this algae over the weekend for the first time since I began this thread. It has grown considerably with the main colony about three times that in the video and multiple smaller colonies around the tank. The owner won't sell any yet and has not gotten a good ID.

It is quite fragile. The tubes are water filled and are destroyed under their own weight if removed from the water. So fragging will be challenging. The owner also reported that even under the lowish current in the tank recently a large chunk simply twisted itself off from the base and floated away to be destroyed in the powerheads.