White cones growing on rock and side wall.

[sampsonndelila]

:at_wits_end:The seem to be reproducing at an alarming rate. What are they and are they bad, or dangerous? 2 of my 10 fish don't look good today. Checked water yesterday, all perfect. I'm a little concerned. Don't know if problems are related.

[hobogato]

probably sessile snails (the white things) but it is impossible to tell without some pics. as far as the fish no looking good - what do you mean? what kind of fish are they?

water = perfect- what do you mean? what did you test and what were the actual results?

give us some other specifics about your tank, like size, how long it has been running, filtration, # of live rock, etc.

[sampsonndelila]

125 gal long
salinity was a little low. Added salt just now.
Temp 77.8
2 fish not looking good 1 clown (tomato) and one angel. White and black. They are huddled at bottom of tank unusually close to eachother. The clown has very small white dots. (Smaller then typical ick dots I have seen before)
The angel has dark smudging on his white parts. His eyes also look a little foggy. But since I wrote this 20 mins ago they are looking a little better. his dark black parts are a little faded.
Tank is been running in its current config for 3 months. I have the water and sand from a tank i had running for 6 months before.
I have a sump with filter pads, live rock 20 lbs and a skimmer. (strange I cleaned the skimmer yesterday-might be connnected)
I have 50-60 lbs of live rock in the bottom of the tank. and I am battling a little red algea. (2 weeks)
I say the water tested perfect, because that is what the pet shop said when they tested it yesterday before I introduced my new fish. A different angel.

[sampsonndelila]

1697

1698

1699

[sampsonndelila]

I bought a clean up crew of 125 snails and about 50 assorted other strange little creatures. The ones these might look like is the cythiths? If they lost their shells?

[sampsonndelila]

1700

1701

[sampsonndelila]

1703

[hobogato]

hard to tell for sure, sessile snails or sponges. either way, they are good for your tank.

since you just added a new fish, the other ones may be stressed. could be ich - which can outbreak in times of stress.

at 60 to 70 # of rock, you probably have about half of what you need in the system, so be careful with stocking until you have adequate live rock for biofiltration. what do you have for nitrate removal? deep sand bed, macro algae in fuge, frequent water changes, etc. ?

what water tests did the pet store do?

[hobogato]

btw, that is a heniochus butterfly, not an angel fish. here (http://www.wetwebmedia.com/heniochu.htm) is some info on them.

[sampsonndelila]

hard to tell for sure, sessile snails or sponges. either way, they are good for your tank.

since you just added a new fish, the other ones may be stressed. could be ich - which can outbreak in times of stress.

at 60 to 70 # of rock, you probably have about half of what you need in the system, so be careful with stocking until you have adequate live rock for biofiltration. what do you have for nitrate removal? deep sand bed, macro algae in fuge, frequent water changes, etc. ?

what water tests did the pet store do?

I know they did nitrate, amonia and Ph. all were good. I know I need to get one of those fancy testing sets.
I am on the lookout for Live rock, I am one of the frugal saltwater guys. looing for a good deal.
What ever the cones are they have spread from 10 on the back glass a week ago to now maybe 200 all over the rock and in the sump.

[sampsonndelila]

I am worried about him, he is turning black, and his fins look thin and are starting to tatter. This started yesterday. He has been in the tank for 1 month with same tank mates with no problem. His buddy the yellow tang chases him around but never seems to catch him. They look more like they are playing because they switch roles all the time, chasing eachother.

[seatrueblue]

Does the cones look like this?
http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/6016/hitchhiker14mw4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
If so its a pineapple sponge and they are harmless.

[sampsonndelila]

YES, NICE PIC

TY.

[SaltyJim]

I would agree with the others that the sponges are harmless. The only problem I see with them is the sheer numbers you have, that could be indicative of low flow. They typically grow at that rate only when the flow is too low, ie on the back sides of rocks.

What kind of flow do you have in the tank? Return pumps/powerheads?

[Kristy]

Okay, just to clarify, Carter... are you talking about the tiny round white things in the picture towards the right (sessile snails)? Or are you referring to the bigger conical sponge things toward the middle-left in that photo (sponge)? Which is it that you have by the hundreds? I would be surprised to hear that you had such a dramatic sudden outbreak of hundreds of sponges, but not surprised by the hundreds of snails.

Am I correct that this photo shows both?

Neither one is a bad thing, by the way.

[sampsonndelila]

No, sorry I was not more clear, I added the snails as part of a clean up crew. The sponges are what i was alarmed by. they have grown very quickly. even in my fuge, where i thought i had quite a bit of flow. i think i do need more flow in the tank i have a #4 kiolia (or how ever you spell that.) Then I have 2 power heads.
another dumb question, how big do these sponges get?