what is this? i need some help

I have this encrusting red stuff that is baffling me,I know the first thoughts will be cyano or maroon colored coralline,but it's not.

It is slippery to the touch,but has to be scraped off,the it breaks off in little chips or flakes.I have a little cyano left in my tank but this isn't it.And the reason I do not believe it is coralline is this stuff has plowed over some zoa colonies completly engulfing them,other are not doing so well,it also took out a couple kenyas (no big deal there) but it's also starting to collect on a couple leathers and now they're upset (but looking better today),but i don't believe it's coralline as coralling doesn't grow on living tissue.

So i'm at a loss,can anybody help me figure this out?

Params are all good,with barely detectable phosphates (hence my cyano) and 0 trates

 

I am thinking it is something similar to cyano since it is growing over coral. If you can siphon it off then I would think it is a kind of cyano possibly. Weird stuff. Does it disappear only to reappear after the lights come back on?

 

Appears to be an encrusting species of sponge. Typically they use calcium for their skeleton; they're also considered aggressive as they don't care what they grow over.

 

Thanks for replying John,but no,it's hard like coralline and has to be scraped with something.And with a little "common" cyano in the tank,you can visibly see the difference.This is encrusting vs. a "coating" that you normally will see with cyano.Turkey baster or siphon hose,even a toothbrush won't budge it.

And please don't tell my wife that i used her toothbrush

 

Hmmm,possibly,it is calcified.But i hope not,would a uv at this time be any help?

 

A UV filter? No. In fact, that is the only sponge known to grow on rocky shorelines and in tidepools where they are exposed to full sunlight. They do, however, have one predator- the ringed nudibranch, although I would be reluctant to suggest one. Physical removal may be your best option.

 

LMFAO :LolLolLol

 

Not what i wanted to hear Mr.Bill,lol,but i just did some quick reading and googled several pages of calified encrusting sponges and the one thing that really stood out to me is most all of these sponges will make a formation of some type,none of the several hundred pics i glanced at resembled this stuff.So thats still leaving me wondering.

 

Yeah, I'm kinda hoping for your sake that I'm wrong. However, one species, Terpios hoshinota, is threatening south pacific reefs and appears only to grow over corals.

Terpios hoshinota Guam 362-2_1

Bacteria associated with an encrusting spo... [Environ Microbiol. 2011] - PubMed - NCBI

Again, I hope I'm wrong, but it's worth looking into.