What is this and how do I make it go away?

This algae seems to be growing on one piece of rock in my frag tank. I planned on adding this piece, to my DT .... but am worried about this mystery algae that seems to be spreading on it.

So ... as the title states, what is it, and how do I get rid of it?

The main rock:



The Close Up:

 

I don't know pm John Maloney from Reef Cleaners with your pics he will help you out.

 

Those are odd looking, I agree with 2in10, contact John, he knows his Algae and he knows how to eliminate it.

 

following

 

Interesting. Let us know what John says.

 

Dictyosphaeria cavernosa

It was hard to find any information on this form of algae in reef tanks. there was tons of biological articles and studies of it in the wild ... being an invasive species ... but no one that had it in their tank and had to get rid of it.

I opted for manual removal, and it was a lot more difficult than you would think. If the algae was on top of the rock, and only attached on one side ... it popped off in one solid chunk. If the algae was in a crevice, crack, or low point of the rock where it had a chance to attach on 3 sides, it was nearly impossible to remove.

I opted to just put the piece of live rock on a piece of plywood out in the sun for a few days to make sure everything is dead. Its the only piece I intended to put in the DT, and with 200 lbs in there already, it should take no time at all to re-seed this piece when I put it in.