Strange plant looking thin

[Cpt Zissou]

Hello all,

I came back from a weekend away and this strange growth appeared on my flowerpot coral. Any idea what it is? It's the brownish plant/branched looking thing behind the coral.

Thanks,
Ted

 

[cmantis]

Does it look like fern leaves up close?

 

[Spsnut]

Looks like a hair algae to me. How old is your tank?

 

[Cpt Zissou]

Thanks guys. My tank is about a year old. I'm at 0 ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Recent phosphate check came back 0 as well. It's a 16 gallon tank with about 20 lbs of live rock and 1 small ocellaris clown.

Don't think it's hair algae. It's stuck on pretty well and won't come off. It looks more like a brown branched tree than hair algae.

Only only one strand/branch kind of looks like a fern. If anything, I think it looks like a feather split down the middle (think old-school quill pens with only one side of plumage). The one feather-like branch has been there for about a month. It was just over the weekend that the big branch thing showed up.