what would shoot ink out of live rock?

[willis87]

the other day i noticed an ink like substance being shot out of a 1/2 inch hole in a piece of my live rock. It was considerable enough for me to notice it about ten feet away. the actual plume of ink was not as dark as something you would see from a squid but was grayish in color but somewhat translucent. After i saw it the first time i watched for a few minutes and noticed it happen two more times within a few minutes. So.. what could this possibly be? some kind of hitchiker i'm guessing. possibly some kind of invert?

this occurred in my 40 gallon reef with mostly softies

 

[Aiwass]

I've seen turbo snails release a milky cloud that seems to match your description. I believe it's sperm being introduced to the water column, but don't quote me on this.

 

[willis87]

yea, i thought of that too but the size hole that it came out of was too small for any of the snails i have in my tank. I know this because i hand pick all my cleanup crew from my lfs. and keep an eye on them. but, yes you did describe it almost to the tee as a milky cloud. The release of sperm seems like a possibility either that or a defense mechanism of some kind. wow, that actually just reminded me that my arc eye hawkfish was right next to the whole when it happend. its also a location that he typically perches on. so this may be indicative of he latter?

 

[willis87]

correction, of (the) latter. but still would not rule out the former.

 

[billsreef]

Odds are it was some worm in the rock releasing some , err, waste material.

 

[Marklu]

Don't rule out a hitch-hiker octopus! haha i've heard crazy stories where people found an octopi in their tanks 4 and 5 months after putting live rock in their tank They only found them because their fish started disappearing and decided to watch at night and saw the thing when it came out. Cool as hell though.

More realistically, i would guess it something reproducing sexually, maybe a sponge or something.

 

[Saboral]

Sounds like the abalone I have in my tank. They are reproducing and squirt a grayish to white plume out of the rocks every now and then. Nothing to be concerned about as they haven't caused any damage in my tank and they do clean.