anyone know what this is?

[jessinator752]

i woke up this morning to find something that looks like an ant hill on two of my mushroom rocks. i've never seen this before so i was wondering if it's a good thing or a bad thing. it feels soft and hard at the same time. i guess spongy would be the right description of if. could someone tell me if i need to be concerned and try to get rid of whatever it is in my tank? has this happend to anyone? if i need to get rid of it, how do i do so? thanks, jessica

[jessinator752]

i just tried to add a picture of what i'm talking about to my first post, but for some reason it didn't attach. can someone tell me how to add a picture so you can see what i'm refering to? thanks, jessica

[LoneStar]

I believe the photo has to be a certain memory size to upload through maast.

Or you can set up a photobucket account www.photobucket.com and past the url code in your post ;)

[hobogato]

sounds like it might be (just a guess here) a small mantis shrimp. i had one that left little piles on the liverock as he burrowed in.

[jessinator752]

the "hill" kinda looks like a spiderweb but when i touch it, it's spongy felling and it pops back up. only the top little bit moves the rest feels rock hard. i'll have to set up a photobucket account so i can add the picture. it's hard to explain. are mantis shrimp bad?

[jessinator752]

here is the link to the picture on photobucket. i'm kinda new to all this online stuff so please bare with me as i learn. thanks! http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p300/jessinator752/PHOT0031.jpg

[hobogato]

cant see photobucket here at work, but i retract my last guess based on your new discription. maybe a vermetid gastropod if there is spiderweb stuff.

[SaltyJim]

It kinda looks like a hole made by a peanut worm. I know they bore into the rocks, never seen the pile of waste though. Could be leftover from their processing the rock. Try looking around that area after lights out. The worm I am referring to will retreat at almost any light, so if you have red light, that would be best, but you still have to look fast.

Anyone else come up with something better?

[jessinator752]

i'm not sure if it is spiderweb stuff, it just reminds me of how a spider would create it. kinda like layers "spun" on layers to make a hill. does that make any sense? now that my mushrooms have opend the "hills" are covered which is probably why i didn't notice it till this morning. normally when i first turn my lights on my kids are begging for my attention so i don't get to veiw my tank for a while. anyway, do i need to be concerned with this? or is it a natural thing that won't kill off any of my corals?

[seamonkey2]

looks like a tube sponge

Jose

[jessinator752]

are any of these things harmful? if so what do i need to do. i have both fish and corals in my tank and i don't want anything getting harmed. thanks for all the thoughts. this is my first saltwater tank and i'm a little worried of something going wrong.

[thedude]

I'll second Jose, by the picture and the description I'd say sponge.

Sponges aren't harmful and are beneficial filter feeding organisms. Occasionally you'll find an aggressive species that grows qucikly so just watch it to make sure it doesn't grow over your zoos.

John

[jessinator752]

ok, thank you so much for your help. i was a little worried as you can tell. here is a picture of my full tank if anyone is interested in seeing it. http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p300/jessinator752/fullview.jpg thanks again for all your ideas.

[safeuerwehr]

I have several sponges in my system, some are white, green, yellow, and even black...most have been very non aggressive but some the ones that came on a zoa rock had little spawns that had hair like needles on them which released and traveled all over the tank....then the mother colony started to grow and over take the zoas....so yeah i agree with thedude, just keep and eye out that they dint over take its host area..

Alfred