Orange/Red root?

Can anybody tell what this is? I haven't had any luck. This is in my 20g QT tank that is always up and running. It seems to move during the night. Each day I notice it in a slightly different location or orientation. One day it was oriented just like a "Y". The next day, it was rotated about 90 degrees. Another day or two later, and it was 2 inches lower on the side glass (it's always on the side glass). A couple of days later and it had moved down about an inch and about 2 inches closer to the front of the tank. I don't see any movement from it, and it looks like a root. The moving around part is what I find odd.

 

I think it's some kind of worm.....?

 

I've never seen something like this, either. Following.

Do you see that it's gradually splitting? Have you watched it at night, to see if it moves only at certain times?

BTW, I have so many threads I'm following for unusual IDs, but none have definitive answers. It's depressing.

 

Might be a sponge

 

i have a few too, haven't noticed them moving in my tank though!

 

Ah, now that's a interesting "animal" for a change. It's a naked (as opposed to shelled) branching foraminiferan, a single-cell organism. They're amoebas that move by extending the flesh in pseudopods (that means fake feet). Some eat bacteria, some are detritivores, and some prey on other protozoans.

If you've got the patience for it, download this paper by Ruetlzer & Richardson which is on another species of foram that's has a similar branching pattern but it collects sponge spicules to act as a support structure. Smithsonian Digital Repository: The Caribbean Spicule Tree: A Sponge-Imitating Foraminifer (Astrorhizidae)

 

Awesome. Thank you LeslieH!

 

thanks leslieh!