[mhender]

Hi,
I'm seeing this growing on some of my live rock. Anyone have any idea what it is. It's about 1/2 high. It changes from hour to hour and it has grown over the past 2 weeks, at times it grows a new branch in a few hours. Started since the MH light went in.

Thanks
Mark

[Ninong]

It might be an arborescent foraminiferan.


Does it look like this?

[mhender]

Yep looks just like that. Is it pretty common and should I just leave it grow?

Thanks
Mark

[Ninong]

It's a protozoan and completely benign. Here is a link to a previous thread. Check out Dr. Ron Shimek's article that I linked to in that thread.

I have never had these white ones before but I have had the little bright red Homotrema rubrum foraminiferans in my tank. I couldn't find any information at all on the one you have and I believe it may be unidentified. All of the photos (other than that one photo that I posted) I was able to google of white arborescent foraminiferans were artic species.

It's difficult to find anything online when you don't even know the genus. That one photo above was originally posted by Jim Rice on his old website several years ago. I can't find his website online anymore.

P.S. -- It isn't going to get any bigger than that, although it might reproduce.

[mhender]

I did a little research on it and it is pretty interesting. It's not classified as either plant or animal.

Heck, let it stay is what I say.

Sure is nice having the internet to do research and ask questions. 15 years ago when I used to have tanks you just had to wing it and hope you could find information from the LFS or a magazine or book you had on a shelf.

Thanks again for the info !!

/mh

[Ninong]

The foraminifera are in the Kingdom Protista. Under the 5-kingdom system, you have Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae and Animalia. The newer 6-kingdom system divides Monera into Eubacteria and Archaebacteria and retains the other four kingdoms.

The foraminifera are animal-like protists. There are also plant-like and fungus-like protists.