Mystery red lump growing under Brisbane fire hydrant stumps experts

A mystery red growth climbing up a Brisbane fire hydrant has sparked an international hunt for answers, stumping academics and amateur mycologists alike.

A mysterious red lump growing under a leaking fire hydrant near a Queensland home has sparked an international hunt for answers, stumping amateur mycologists, academics, and herbologists alike.

A series of pictures were shared on social media showing the fuzzy-looking burgundy organism growing up and wide across a fire hydrant leaking in the carpark of a private property in Brisbane.

The first photo of the red ‘thing’ was taken in October 2022. Picture: Reddit.

The pictures sparked a flurry of curiosity from users across multiple Reddit forums, with many suggesting possible answers and offering visual aides, but no one has been able to provide a definitive answer.

The user who originally posted the images said the photos were taken by a friend when he noticed a weird red thing growing on a “big rock” that was under the hydrant.

He said the hydrant started leaking “about a year ago”.

“We tried turning it off ourselves but couldn’t. We contacted landlords, and the council but no one came to turn it off,” they quoted their friend.

The friend tracked the growth of the mystery thing. Picture: Reddit.

And it has provided some freaky results. Picture: Reddit.

“Eventually the fungus on the rock grew until it reached inside the hydrant … then someone took the rock away and it was all gone.

“But the leak continued and after a week or two the new fungus appeared on the ground. That was when I started taking photos of it, knowing it would grow again.”

The Brisbane man tracked the steady and unsettling growth of the unknown red thing, which has baffled many online and in the Queensland science community.

News.com.au shared the images with the CSIRO, academics from the University of Queensland, and Queensland Herbarium.

No one had seen an organism like it or could provide more conclusive results without getting a sample of the red mass.

The thing started growing on a rock under the leaking hydrant. Picture: Reddit.

But even after the rock was removed, it grew back. Picture: Reddit.

The most common suggestions from citizen scientists online were that it was either a moss, an algae, or some other natural organism.

“I’m disgusted but simultaneously fascinated at the same time. I feel the need to poke it with a very long stick,” one user wrote.

“This thing gives me goosebumps, I hate looking at it.”

Some suggested it was peat moss, or something similar, which explained why it was “loving the leak” and was red “due to exposure to light”.

And it grew … Picture: Reddit.

And grew … Picture: Reddit.

Other users suggested the growth looked like Andreaea alpina, or terrarium red moss.

Mycology fans noted close up photos captured mites or aphids “eating” at the red organism.

“Those mites, btw, resemble the springtails I often seen in the moister parts of my garden,” one replied. “They like to eat fungus.”

One user seemed confident guessing it was some kind of “very niche fungus, algae, or bacteria that is using some sort of mineral sediment in this hard water as a food source”.

“This mineral is also helping with creating a solid structure for the growth as it collects,” they wrote, adding that the colour being red suggested that mineral could be iron.

The first growth grew into the pipe (before being removed). Picture: Reddit.

Mycology pundits noted there were mites “eating” the growth. Picture: Reddit.

“I know there are iron/rust bacteria, but I’m not sure if there are fungi and algae that have that niche too. Could be a different mineral too, not entirely sure.”

Somehow, despite notching up thousands of views and efforts by citizen scientists and degree-holding scientists alike, it seems the mystery of “the blob” remains.

Let’s just hope it’s a friendly one.

Do you have an idea what this could be? Have you seen one growing near you? Continue the conversation – [e-mail]