new thingy type of stuff some sort of thingamaggier

[Anonymous]

Not quite sure what this is, but it started in one location and with in the last week has spread too alot of the rock. It is white and some of it has little tubes sticking out in alot of places. Others have long branches that stick out to collect food. I have been trying to get a decent shot of them but this is all I can get. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[MartinE]

looks like white formafarians to me, they will come in red also, or some kind of sponge. harmless filter feeders.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks, I am just a little worried because they spread so fast. I saw them on the hitch hiker site, but only the fan part. There were no pics of the base so I wasn't sure if there were two different things there. Thanks for the help. Just confirmed what I thought. I appreciate the help.

 

[Mihai]

I have no idea. I would have guessed sponges, but if you mention the tentacles it's not it...

M.

 

[Anonymous]

It has now spread to cover about triple the area in the photo in the last day!! I am not getting the warm fuzzy feeling about this stuff. Anyone have any suggestions on what it would be, I don't think a sponge would spread this fast. While parts do look like the formafarian, the base is almost like a mat with intertwining "roots". Getting a little worried.

 

[Anonymous]

you worry too much... :wink:


if it's not a nudi, crab, anemone, or worm(fire, or other baddy), and it's spreading, it's most likely cool

sponges, btw, can spread tremendously fast, especially the encrusting varieties

 

[Mihai]

Actually nothing that I know of (not that I know a lot, but anyway) spreads that fast. My encrusting sponges spread quite slow.

M.

 

[Anonymous]

Wild fire with a kick is how this stuff is spreading. I will try to get another pic for you, but I added some more LR and it is now under an over hang so kind of dark. I will try to get a shot of it.

 

[Anonymous]

So if you had to guess because nothing you have had spreads that fast, what would it be? It is still spreading and is covering about 15% of a 15 lbs piece of rock, both top and bottom , lights and dark sides, and in high flow and slow flow areas. It has spread to other rocks in the tank as well. Doesn't seem to be hurting anything yet, but it is really growing fast. I am also starting to see on the underside of the rocks that there is areas of clear "slime" (technical term) that has tube like things on the inside of it that you can see through the slime. Quite odd, but not likely to be photo'd since it is uner the rock which is the base for my whole aquascape. I think I have first contact with a species not of this world lol, and since I watched "Mars Attacks" last night, this could go badly lol.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

How about an updated pic so we can see how much it's spread?

 

[Mihai]

Logically speaking, after it will consume everything of what it eats it will slow down and die off. It may come in waves after that or settle at equilibrium... watever it is.

The only things that spreads that fast that I saw is cyanobactera, but it's not the case here. Xenia and Caluerpa also spread fast, but not that fast. And anyway, it seems unrelated to them. Maybe it's alien?

M.

 

[Anonymous]

here is an update photo from a different angle, you can see the stuff is still in the same place as the last but has spread about 4 inches over the rock to the right. It has continued to spread, albeit more slowly since it is now shaded area under and overhang.

 

[Anonymous]

all i see is a typical piece of LR with various stuff on it :?

 

[garagebrian]

Without a better picture I can't help you. How long have you had this live rock? I know when I got mine and it was curing I got this fuzzy white stuff on it as stuff died off. After my cycle was over the fuzz disappeared and I haven't seen any since then.

Brian

 

[Mihai]

At this point I think that they are either foraminifers or sponges (in this order). Either way you're fine. Just don't worry about it.

M.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry the picture isn't better quality, but it is too far from the glass and is getting weird reflections from the water. I have had the rock for 4 months and it is not somthing that is dying off as it is a living ...ism..that is spreading. The fan parts look like the foraminifers, but the base and root system doesn't. At anyrate, nothing untoward has happened and I was just curious if it was normal for the stuff to spread so fast.

 

[wade1]

I'm with Mihai... foraminiferan is my first guess, second would be a sponge, although I see none of the siphons I'd expect on a sponge. They are likely not spreading so much as growing up from what was already on the rock when you got it.

Nothing to worry about and, as mentioned, the population will decline as the tank ages a bit and food sources die down.

Wade