Coralline algae sloughing?? or... (big pics)

[testhead1313]

So I bought this Favia about 6 or 7 weeks ago, and it has been doing great, including the little guy on the lower right popping up from what appeared like a dead part of the skeleton (fairly common from what I've read). My question involves the maroon stuff to the right of the "little guy". It is a beautiful deep burgundy color and I assumed it was just a type of coralline algae. I cannot see any polyps, or holes (ie porifera-like), and is has grown in the typical encrusting algae fashion. Today, however, I see that it is sloughing a cloudy, yet mostly translucent, film. I have never seen this before and was wondering if any of you had? Are there any slime molds or other unusual organisms (ectoprocts, etc.) that show up in marine aquaria? I hope the pics turn out okay... The first is to show you the location of the algae (please excuse the large algae-filled scratch in the glass), and the second is a close up of the sloughing film and organism underneath.
Thanks
Chris
P.S. I've never used this photo hosting site, but photobucket will shrink them to 250k on me.

 

[this is me]

maybe something is trying to grow on top of it? :?:

 

[stevenp]

Chris,
I think I have that same growth in my tank. I never really worried about it because I think the color is beautiful. I get that fuzz from time to time as well (I think the snails mow it down every now and then). It comes and goes but never creates a problem and never gets any thicker, and I can only see it from close up.

<<edit>> actually after looking at the pic again I'm not sure if the 'fuzz' is the same stuff I have but I'm pretty sure the purple stuff is.

Steve

 

[testhead1313]

I know it's actually sloughing (similiar to the mucus I've had to blow off my leather after acclimation), because it started this morning, and when I went back to the tank shortly after posting this, it was gone. I should have taken some samples to look at under the scope, but I didn't think about it in time. Thanks for the replies, curious isn't it?
Chris

 

[testhead1313]

BTW, zoto.com is the host I used. 2GB of free space, unlimited file size, and several resizing options available via the site. I don't know how reliable it will be, but it's only a beta, so hop on now in case it does turn out to be worth it. Seems quicker than photobucket.com too...
Chris

 

[zev]

I have the same stuff that came encrusted on rock I got from a member on the board. I have notices some of the same filmesque stuff and never really found out what it is. Never hurt anything.....that I know of.

Not much help but at least your not alone

 

[testhead1313]

Cool, thanks for the post zev. My girlfriend saw a large sheet of this stuff floating around last night, so I grabbed it and put it under the scope. It does have the characteristic honeycomb matrix of mucus, just a bit thicker. I'll let you know if I find anything else out.
Thanks
Chris