Strange LR growth

hi everyone. my LR is finally sprouting life!!! there is this weird purple tree thingy growing on one piece of rock though. it looks like a plant. is this a coral? will it survive? i just noticed it today. its actually really pretty... ;-)

 

it be hard to tell with out a pic but usually the hitchikers on live rock are pretty hardy and live through a lot or will eventually grow back

it could be anything thats one of the surprises of live rock never know what u will get

 

well i asked the LFS about my strange growth, and he said its a common tree coral.i looked at the ones he had, and sure enough, thats what it was! really cool. its getting bigger!

 

Sounds like a forum to me, not really a coral, more like a hydrocoral. BTW, this post sould be posted else where as it has nothing to do with fish. I'd have posted it in the coral or general discussion.

 

my apologies about the misplaced post gresham.

 

Hey Roger,

Does the thing on your rock look something like this?

Picture courtesy of www.aquariumarts.com .​

That is a Purple Clove Polyp.  Related to Xenia.  Just leave it alone, and if none of your fish eat it (unlikely) it will grow like a weed.

Edit: Roger, I hope you don't mind; I moved your thread to "Corals" instead of "Fish."

 

thanks wrassman! it does look like that, but mine is more branching, and doesnt have the flowery look that one has. same color though.

 

now i have these weird little black slug things with a little piece of shell on their backs... i think its a chiton.

 

Hey Roger,

Doesn't sound like a chiton. Sounds more like a Scutus unguis, or what the Germans call, "schwarze Fingernagelschnecke" (black finger-nail snail). Here's a pic:

​

That picture is from a German site, www.korallenriff.de , where you will find a LOT of useful info (and you don't necessarily have to speak German -- but it helps ).

BTW, a chiton is totally covered in shell. It doesn't appear to have any front or back; it is just a rounded-shell that moves, VERY SLOWLY. Here's the best pic I could find of a chiton:

​

This picture is from www.biology.ucsc.edu .

If neither of these critters identifies what you have, let me know and we'll keep looking. I love to ID critters. ;D

 

its kinda like the black finger-nail snail, but ALL black, and the shell is just on the very top of his back, like some kind of strange hat.