nuxx Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Do you guys have any idea what these are? Good/Bad? I took the fish I had out of QT about 2 weeks ago and let the tank run. Today I noticed that there were these little white inverts all over the glass. The biggest are about the size of a pencil eraser head. I was planning on doing a 50% water change this weekend and then QTing a purple tang in about a week or so. I didn't want to tear the QT tank down since there was going to be about a 1 month gap between it having fish in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinB Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Planaria? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Yes, they are Scypha/Sycon/”Pineapple” Sponges (if they're not moving). They are harmless filter feeders. I was an idiot and killed mine off, but they are coming back now with a vengeance (I have pics but camera at home). I've seen conflicting opinions on whether they are a good omen of a balanced aquarium or bad omens for a DT with out-of-whack parameters. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 I only had them in my poorly-filtered nano tank when I was first starting it up. I haven't seen them since in other tanks I've had... the 65-gallon and 125-gallon, for the past 7 years. I only see the standard sponges you see on the backs of liverock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 I only had them in my poorly-filtered nano tank when I was first starting it up. I haven't seen them since in other tanks I've had... the 65-gallon and 125-gallon, for the past 7 years. I only see the standard sponges you see on the backs of liverock. Yeah, mine didn't come back until I started feeding heavier, smaller food for the clam and corals I got. When it was just pellets and flakes for the shrimp and fish, there was no "outbreak" of scypha. I think it's my tank's way of naturally compensating for my heavy feeding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuxx Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 Thanks guys... I have a few a few little hermits in the tank, so I put a tiny bit of food in there. I guess I'll just completely stop putting anything in there until the purple tang comes. Should I break the tank down, or just do a 50% water change and not worry about these little guys? Also, just a HOB filter, no skimmer, power head and heater in that tank... so the filtration isn't that great... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 I've never seen anyone say that they're bad in and of themselves, except maybe in the DT competeing with SPS for food. Or maybe growing on other inverts. If you stop feeding, I'm sure they'll go away on their own. Mine dissolved after the "brass incident". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuxx Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 Cool I'm not going to add any food into the tank until I get the purple, and I'll do a nice water change this weeked. So hopefully they go away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerrickH Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 they are harmless. I had a ton of them in my sump on my old setup. Key here is "filter feeder". Being in the sump seems like a good idea, they help "filter" lol. I never had a problem with them being in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Yeah, I wouldn't consider them a "problem". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted May 12, 2012 Share Posted May 12, 2012 I've got them in all my tanks. The smaller spirals are actually a species of filter feeding snail that grows fixed in place, they are also ubiquitus. I guess somebody could argue they are competing with corals/inverts for food but I don't see anyway of compleetly removing them since they can grow in every little nook or cranny. And someone could argue removing them would be a method of nutrient export but I wont go out of my way to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 I've got them in all my tanks. The smaller spirals are actually a species of filter feeding snail that grows fixed in place, they are also ubiquitus. I guess somebody could argue they are competing with corals/inverts for food but I don't see anyway of compleetly removing them since they can grow in every little nook or cranny. And someone could argue removing them would be a method of nutrient export but I wont go out of my way to do that. Yes, I've got a ton of spirorbids in my tank, too. They make my black, back wall look like a starry sky. They even grow on the slower critters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 I've got them in all my tanks. The smaller spirals are actually a species of filter feeding snail that grows fixed in place, they are also ubiquitus. . . Yes, I've got a ton of spirorbids in my tank, too. Thanks for the update! I've been thinking they were snails for about 15 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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