Dark Blue/Black Coral

[pinhigh1886]

Need ID Please! This dark Blue/Black coral has been growing in the back on my rock island for over a year and is getting big. It looks like Acropora the way it grows but is rubbery and flexible. It is dark blue/black with light blue growth tips. It is growing in a pretty shaded area but is now starting to get light as it grows from underneath the light? The colony is now the size of a baseball and started as just a little tip sticking out of the live rock I purchased. Any ideas?

http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a610/pinhigh1886/20130815_205445_zpsbfea3cc4.jpg

[Tankster]

is it a sponge?

[pinhigh1886]

is it a sponge?

I guess that is what I was thinking at first but again it grows like acropora and branches off in every direction. It also has light blue growth tips. Not sure I have seem growth tips on sponges? Maybe?:confused:

Also I thought all sponges had a tube like structure with a hole in the top. The tops are all closed and rounded?

[lemonjello]

could it be some kind of gorgonian ? its kinda hard to see the pic is a bit dark ,from being the back of your tank i suspect.

[pinhigh1886]

Yeah it is dark and I used my phone. I will try to get a better shot? I am worried it will take over my whole tank eventually!

[binford4000]

Looks like some type of leather. Does it have a skeleton structure like acropora or is it soft ?? If it was a type of acro you would be able to snap branches off. I am going with it is a sponge

[pinhigh1886]

Looks like some type of leather. Does it have a skeleton structure like acropora or is it soft ?? If it was a type of acro you would be able to snap branches off. I am going with it is a sponge

No like I said it is soft but grows like acropora. No hole at top of each branch but I am thinking sponge too. Growing like crazy. Hope I can control it if it gets too big. Anything eat sponge but yet generally reef safe?

[Tankster]

i had a sponge like that, if too much just grab a handful and pull it out. I wouldn't worry too much about it though.

[ReefTech]

i had a sponge like that, if too much just grab a handful and pull it out.

+1 on it being a sponge. I had the same thing growing in my sump before I drained it to move it into my basement. It was actually in my refugium but never spread anywhere else so I was never concerned with it. Just as Tankster mentioned you can just remove pieces of it by pulling them out with your hands. Your gonna need to keep an eye on it cause the one I had just spread everywhere with no sign of stopping so it may just continue to spread everywhere in your tank if you don't keep trimming the branches back. Not sure what kind of water parameters are needed to get this sponge to form and grow cause ever since I drained my sump, moved it, then refilled it and started running it I don't see any signs of it growing anywhere anymore.