PDA

View Full Version : What manner of creature is this?

SaltyMist
05/26/2004, 01:35 PM
I've got quite a few of these in my tank and dont have a clue where they came from, what are they? Are they harmfull? What do they feed on?

Thanks,
StinkyNappy
05/26/2004, 01:38 PM
yes, i have those also.... i dunno...
SPC
05/26/2004, 01:39 PM
Its a sponge.
Steve
SaltyMist
05/26/2004, 01:40 PM
Wow! Sponges surviving in my tank, what a treat!
imsuperjp
05/26/2004, 01:57 PM
I hav those before. I think they are called pineapple sponges and like low light areas. Good thing i think
SaltyMist
05/26/2004, 01:58 PM
Low Light huh? That might explain why they are predominantly growing on the undersides of rocks in the caves and what not.

Oh yeah, I guess that also now explains what these things were in my skimmer when I cleaned it out. I thought they were just pieces of gunk attached to the plastic tubing inside the skimmer, but now that I think about it, they were the same as the photo.
clown2be
05/26/2004, 03:10 PM
wait. I have those all over in my fuge and overflows. I think this is a form of aptaisa. this being a sponge was the last thing i would of called it. anyone else
K9
05/26/2004, 03:18 PM
Those are Pineapple Sponges (definitely not an Aiptasia variant). They are harmless filter feeders. In good water conditions though, they will multiply like crazy. You can either suck them off the rocks with a hose when you do a water change (they aren't attached very strongly), or get a Keyhole Limpet to eat them. I had them all over my rockwork, then one day discovered my two hitchhiking Keyhole Limpets were eating them at a facinating rate. Now, I'm surprised if I even see one in my tank.
SPC
05/26/2004, 03:33 PM
I'll bet there are over a hundred of these in my overflows.

Like K9Decoy said, they are easy to siphon out if you don't want them.
Steve
clown2be
05/26/2004, 03:34 PM
Thanks guys, sorry spc. I'm a believer now. Will have to tell the wife i don't have an aptaisa problem thanks to info from RC.
tatuvaaj
05/26/2004, 03:36 PM
I wouldn't remove them, sponges are generally beneficial creatures in an aquarium (they eat both bacterioplankton and dissolved organics).
clown2be
05/26/2004, 03:45 PM
I have been comming down stairs at night when the light is on my fuge and plucking them out. just cleaned overflow boxes last weekend taking everyone of them out. ha ha!
Moisted
05/26/2004, 04:16 PM
These are NOT pineapple sponges. Actually there is no pineapple sponge, there is a pineapple coral species, which is clearly visually different.

These are Scypha Sponges. Harmless little filter-feeding creatures.

Take a look at This thread (http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=297077&highlight=pineapple)

and This thread (http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=294218&highlight=Scypha)