HELP!!! Something growing by my corals...

[SirCharles77]

Can you please look at the images below and identify the highlighted areas? They are white and puffy looking with a hole in the middle. One of them you can see looks like it has something coming out of it that almost looks like a feather duster type of thing.

They just showed up recently.

Look in the 2nd image where there is a large section in the bottom right. I dont think this is the same thing but it is similar. This section has been there since I got this coral rock.

I should note that since the one on the bottom of the first image showed up the green star polyp coral that is it growing on is not out as much.

 

[BLKTANG]

They look like harmless sponges.

If they are smothering your coral just peel them off with a pair of tweezers.

 

[Timbor]

Yeah, the small ones are pineapple sponges, the other one is just some white sponge. I wouldn't worry about em, just enjoy their coolness!

 

[maynardjames]

think its some type of sponge. hope someone knows for sure i have big one in my tank. lfs told me it was somekind of sponge. have seen a few that look like it in books. not sure though

 

[asia102485]

Same here, i have a bunch of it growing underneath my rock. My LFS said they are sponges and are harmless.

 

[reefD]

agreed for sure a harmless sponge.......

 

[reefD]

if they are growing on your corals peel them off and to decrease them reduce feedings/ sources of filter feeding. the more nutrients in your water the more youll have . when they take over you need to reduce them by decreasing what the like. and when they grow in lit areas its obviouse that they are feeding on excess nutrients in water.



but again overall they are harmless and dont commonly pose any threat to a reef tank. and dont normally pose an issue to anything. even when they are in high population.

 

[77railer]

I see two different things. The first pic is of a trunicate or tunicate cant remember how to spell them. They are filtering critters that filter the crap out of your tank. Good guys..as far as we know...the bottom pic on the right looks like a sponge most are harmless...

Leroy

 

[lancer99]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11953467#post11953467 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 77railer
The first pic is of a trunicate or tunicate cant remember how to spell them.

Almost certainly, based on the pic & description, a Scypha "Pineapple" sponge, as Timbor pointed out, and not a tunicate.

-R

 

[landragon]

I believe its a Synopholus Dirma or "death fluff". It will live in a little hole in your baseboards and steal your breath while you sleep. Oh wait that was some movie I saw as a kid, and I think I just made up that scientific name. On closer inspection, it looks to be harmless sponge.

 

[Savas]

The white sponges are a good addition to the tank. They will grow in a free-form manner so they add some interesting additions to the tank, aid in cleaning the water, and they will survive being taken out of water. If they bother you, just peel them off and thow them in the trash.

 

[Savas]

Great way of lightening the pic and raising what you want to be seen into the foreground!

 

[Jah2707]

Sorry not to highjack the thread but is there a way to spread those types of sponges? I have a really cool yellow sponge and I was thinking of cutting some off and putting it on a different rock will that work? thanks

 

[smitty06]

Definately appears to be sponge. I ahve the same growing in my tank. It has been there for years. It will not affect anything in your tank.

 

[dobbs]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11955428#post11955428 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by smitty06
Definately appears to be sponge. I ahve the same growing in my tank. It has been there for years. It will not affect anything in your tank.

Same here. No issues yet.

 

[Savas]

Yes, you can spread a sponge by cutting and glueing it somewhere else. Just be sure not to keep it out of water long, if at all.

 

[Bebo77]

just keep them away from your sps and you will be fine...

 

[mollymonticello]

I have these inside my canister filter. and a few in my tank.




The clear thing on top in the pic below is a tunicate, I think. It has 2 holes or siphons. One for the inlet, one for the outlet. The bottom thing is a pineapple sponge. Harmless silicate sponge.



I took this a while ago, ignore the top thing circled. The bottom one is a pineapple sponge also.



The second sponge in your pics looks kind of like some that I get also. I think it's just an encrusting sponge.