What is this ????

[dburkart]

My wife took a pic of this in the tank today, it was about three feet long and with a consistency of mucuous. Any ideas ? Everything both fish and coral seem to be OK. I do 15 gallon water changes weekly with RODI water and Tropic Marin Reef salt. I have been dosing with Red Sea NO3O4:X for the past month. Nitrates seem to stay around 5PPPM.

Dave

 

[Choff]

Should move this to Reef ID forum, may get a better response.


and I want to know what the heck it is.

 

[dburkart]

Thanks, will do.

Dave

 

[FCatCH76]

probably this:

White Sponge, Clathrina sp.

 

[dburkart]

The pic on the right looks close. It was not in the tank first thing this morning and it appeared in its full length later in the day. I hope it is not something bad for the tank other than being a pain to remove. Thanks for the ID.

Dave

 

[Oxylebius]

+1 to FCatCH76 post. I'm also inclined to say it is a type of sponge and the species he posted is probably in close relation to what you have, which may be a type of Syconoid species. But it is incredibly fast growing.

I had a sponge that sent out very long canals or tubes, but they grew more slowly and were skinnier then yours, mine looked more like spaghetti. Mine was most likely a type of Syconoid species as well. There are greater then five thousand species of sponge living and most need to be ID'd with a microscope, so really it is our best guess, and if we can get in narrowed down into classes, families, or genus, then we are doing well.

Yours looks kinda like this: Schypha - section with osculum You can try to take a piece off and look at the mid-section of it. Is it completely hollow?

There is a nice article on sponges here: Aquarium Invertebrates: Sponges, Phylum Porifera — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog if you would like to read more about them. It is a bit of an old article, but much of it is still relevant.

This is very interesting.

 

[dburkart]

When it is taken out of the tank it just becomes a mass of slime and is completely collapsed. It seems amazing that it could grow from nothing to several feet in a matter of hours, I look forward to reading the links you posted and will report back.

Dave

 

[whippetguy]

That does seem a bit strange that a sponge would grow that fast, but I have no idea what it is. Still thinking tapeworm, hehe. Anything that could make that kind of an egg sac in your tank?

 

[Oxylebius]

Does it connect back to anything in your tank? Where does it originate from? Can you post a pic of that? Or at least describe it.

 

[Oxylebius]

Well, one of my first thoughts when I saw your picture was a salp chain, but the likelihood is extremely low in aquariums (some labs have been able to keep some species alive to experiment on). But your description of taking it out of the water and it being a 'mass of slime' makes me think of colonial salps again, they are gelatinous. I wanted to bring this up a possibility, but I still feel it is unlikely, these are pelagic creatures.

wetwebmedia.com is a great source if you would like to submit your photo there. They would be able to give you some ID - when you get a response from them, please post back here. I'm very interested in what this is. Thx

 

[dburkart]

I have posted the response from Bob Fenner of Wetwebmedia.com below:

To: crew@wetwebmedia.com
Subject: Strange Growth
I have had the following growth appear in my Red Sea 250 several times in
the past few months. My nitrates are under 5ppm ammonia is 0. Growth of
corals and livestock is good. Tank is approximately 11 months old. The
growth can appear in under an hour and can be from 6 inches to several
feet
it is tubular when in the tank and becomes a slime when removed. I have
included a picture of the growth

Regards,
Dave Burkart
<With this fast growth... must be an algae or fungus... Very interesting.
The means to restrict? Nutrient limitation and competition (a more diverse,
vigorous group of other life). Bob Fenner>

 

[ElTurco]

It should be tapeworm or mukoza of bristleworm. Had this finding in my tank to sort it out and to find out to whom this coating belongs to place a food clam on edge far from rocks at night and wait the guy came out

Brgds

 

[Oxylebius]

Well, I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed in Fenner's response. He and his crew have seen so many odd things, that I had hoped that he would be able to provide some direction on what this is and what created it. But, it seems he is as lost as we are (fungus, algae, other diverse group of life)....

I appreciate your follow-up. Thx

 

[dburkart]

I have shown the pic to several people in large LFS and they have opined that it seems to be a sponge as was mentioned earlier in the thread. I thought that Bob may have had something more definitive as well. I will keep shpowing the pic around and see what comes up.

Dave

 

[Oxylebius]

Any updates? I often think about this photo and what could have made that!

 

[dburkart]

No updates, but it has not appeared in the size that it had. Every once in a while I see a small piece an inch or so floating about.
I guess it will just be one of those questions that we will find an answer to some day.
Dave