Brown slime at the base of a Sarcophyton

[hgsports]

I have a large yellow sarco that's got some brown "slime" around it's base. It almost looks like it's shedding.

The slime doesnt seem to be advancing and the coral looks to be in great shape. Fully expanded, nice and bright, growing pretty rapidly.


Here's a picture of what I'm talking about:
http://www.homegrownsports.com/tank/base.jpg


Here's a picture from the top:
http://www.homegrownsports.com/tank/top.jpg


Any ideas if that's a bad thing?


John

 

[Super Len]

The photos are extremely blurry (especially the first one), and I'm unable to even venture an accurate guess what the brown slime is. Most likely, it's some species of cyanobacteria, although it may be protozoans. If it concerns you, brush the slime off it's base and siphon it away. Chances are, it's nothing to worry about (various beneign microorganisms are known to grow on the stalks of Sarcophyton).

 

[Anonymous]

Soft corals emit slime which someimes has a tendency to pile up at the base of the coral. It will eventually begin to rot there if not removed. With a turkey baster it could be removed with a nice blast. If it is a bacterial infection it can be removed in the same manner. Then you must keep a close eye on it's base.

Good luck,

 

[reefhope]

some of my leathers used to have this stuff on the base, as far as I could tell it was some type of algal growth

I used to just brush it off with my fingers or a soft brush (it wouldn't blow off even with using a powerhead) but I could pretty easily rub it off

BTW, nice looking leather. How long have you had it?

 

[hgsports]

Had it about 3 months now. It was pretty large when i got it from my LFS but it's really gotten huge lately. It's growing at an incredible rate, I'm worried that it's going to outgrow that tank before i'd like it to


john