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Encrusting Coral


Zarathustra2

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A while back I purchased a live rock that had this pink encrusting coral on it. Looks/works almost exactly like GSP but is pink. I did an ID at one point of time but can't remember the name right now, began with a B. :D

So all of a sudden it is growing like a freaking weed. The rock also has some SPS glued to it. How do I get rid of the encrusting coral? I like the stuff a lot but I want to to stay in it's place and it just isn't. Aquatec recomended a wire brush. Any other ideas?

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If its like GSP its got a thick base like leather that sticks to surfaces i know mine has this leather like skin and i accidentally pulled it one day and came up like pealing an orange or something. id like to have some of it if you can get it off in sheets..

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Sounds like maybe an encrusting gorgonian?

The thing I have found with GSP, if you leave just a little bit, it can grow back from that. :D It is a weed, that is why in my new tank I have it exiled to an island with an anemone on it.

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Look anything like this?

Yep, that is exactly what it is. I really do like the way it flows in the power head. The growth kicked up after I added a K1 to my Knano for flow. Went from being a nice tankmate that stayed on its rock to overflowing on top of frag plugs and other rocks in like a week.

I had tried cutting at it with a straight blade and peeling it back. The flesh is almost exactly like GSP but it just wouldn't come off in sheets like your saying and I was doing this in my display tank and didn't want to completely butcher it. I just lost an acan to a butchered frag attempt on a great big green hairy mushroom.

Maybe if I cut out triangles or squares and try to pry it off with a tool it would work? Thinking something like a small screwdriver. My only worry is a piece of reef-pug's blue tenuis that is glued to that rock (on a frag plug so I can move it if needed) that is doing really well so i am loathe to move it at all.

And MHart, If I can "frag" it you are welcome to it. Will also put it on the free section along with some shrooms i'm going to throw up there pretty soon.

Ideally I could banish it to one rock along with some GSP. That would be very very pretty.

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Allright. I'll see what I can do this weekend. Hate to move around major pieces of rockwork but I guess it can't be helped. Think I'm going to move the tenuis temporarily to another rock, Pull this thing out into a bucket of water change and start hacking at it with a razor blade. If I get any usable frags I'll throw them up on the for free/trade board. I'll make sure to save you one Matt.

Maybe if I use some needle nose plyers to get a grip on it it will come off...

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RJohn,

Not sure if that was a pic of something you had or if you got it off the net. If its yours DO NOT frag this.

I used a pair of hemostats to pull some of it off. I got maybe 1.5 square inches off and realized that this wasn't working. Put it back into my tank and the frags in a frag rack to settle on some rubble in there. Grab some dinner and when I got back every single polyp in my tank was closed. My LPS was shrunk in. The duncans are almost completely receeded into thier skeletons. Well, a water change later and I think it is OK but I think this stuff puts out some nasty chemicals when bothered.

I'm going to go to wire brush plan now. If you still want some matt I'll be happy to give but make sure it is sitting on it's own island as you probably won't be able to get rid of it later.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just as a follow up. Ended up taking a wire brush to the entire rock this weekend. Fragged off the shrooms that were on the rock and brushed the heck out of it in a bucket of used tank water. Now I just have to wait for it to re-corraline as the rock just looks ugly right now. Luckily that hasn't been a problem for me.

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