Growth on live rock

I was moving some rock around the other day to make room for the new Onyx Clowns we have, and I noticed one of our pieces of live rock have several of these very strange mucous-like growths on them. Any idea what they may be? I am assuming they are not harmful...

Thanks!

Looks like a sponge to me, they are generally harmless, but can release toxins if physically destroyed/injured. They will however gobble up nutrients, which is a good thing.

Definitely looks like a sponge to me. I've had this kind before and a neon green version, as well. Very good to have in the tank

awesome sponge!!!! I have a huge one! They usually grow where there is less light and not as much flow. They are really good to have. They are a filter feeder and can help keep your tank clean.

Sweet. Glad it is a sign of a healthy tank.

sponge... but is anyone else seeing brown flatworms in that pic?

Originally Posted by RCA

sponge... but is anyone else seeing brown flatworms in that pic?

hmmm yeah maybe - or just more weird snails or sponges or food or something!!

Mishikan - what are those lil brownish looking things in your pic??

I'm giving it a second look and I think it's just one of those filter feeders and not a brown segmented flat worm.

i have those kind of sponges grown like crazy in my sump and on the dark side of my rocks also...

yep.......sponge.........so........new black onyx pair eh? how old are they? are you planning on collecting babies?

I would have no idea how to go about breeding the clowns, but it would be awesome to see. Im' not sure how old they are either, but I think they are almost mature. The male is shaking very fast when he is near the female, which I read is a sign that he is trying to mate with her, correct?

First things first, I want to eliminate the tank of Aiptaisa. I have been using Aiptaisia-X but I am getting annoyed by the continued effort. I am looking into getting Berghia's, anyone have any experience with them?

I do have 3 peppermint shrimp that the LFS sold me, but I don't think they have done anything to help.

that is a sign they are trying to pair up. They can be paired but never breed too though. It's usually a good sign things are going in the right direction.

The berghias will eat up the aiptasia really fast! They will die when they run out though. I'm trying to culture aiptasia now.

You can use a kalk paste to cover them and kill them too instead of letting the berghias die off. If you need help just let us know. We can point you in the right direction.

Well if the Berghia eat all the aiptasia in the tank now, and we don't add live rock, they shouldn't return correct? I would hate to spend $100 on them to only get a temporary solution, only to have to buy more at a later date. It also says peppermint shrimp may eat them...

You're right if they eat them all they won't come back. You can always get more rock, just clean it and cure it first or some say "cook" it. Just make sure everything that's live is dead before you add any more rock. That's the only way to make sure you don't add the aiptasia, but you do want some things.

One site I found says I need 8 for 90gallon. As long as I get 2 or 3, shouldn't the be enough? I understand that it may take longer...but the more I buy the more money I am throwing away when they all die.

aiptasia comes in on frags too!! be sure to dip everything, and QT it if you never want aiptasia again after eliminating them.....

All the controls are 50/50 - I've used berghia, and manual control myself - seems to work well... I get 1 or two aiptasia now every couple of months that I kill manually with kalkwasser - but rarely do I see any more than than that after my last attempt, which included 10 berghia, that reproduced and were happily destroying every last aiptasia in my tank until they starved to death (or my wrasses ate them, I added my wrasses about the same time they ran out of visual aiptasia)

I've heard many people say all Aiptasia-X does is make them multiply!! haha the joke around the pond is its aiptasia fertilizer ... never used it myself so I have no clue.

Wrasses WILL eat berghia - so, don't waste your $$ if you have any wrasse type fish in your tank.

Yea we just finished the bottle of Aiptasia-X. It sure is good at making you buy more...that's all I have to say about that lol. But you said we should dip everything? I have dipped our hippo before. The LFS explained it as Fresh water literally causing the organisms to explode. And from submersing captured bristleworms in fresh water, it seems to kill them almost instantly. My hesitation in dipping any additional rock we get is that I am afraid it will kill any small mushrooms that may grow. Currently we have several pieces of rock that grown beautiful mushrooms we never even saw. Won't dipping them kill all life on the rock?

Be carefull killing Aiptasia sometimes trying to kill them makes them worse. I had no luck with Aiptasia-X and there is one other one I tried, they went away then came back twice as bad. The only thing I had luck with getting rid of them is a copperband butterfly. I put one in and with in a month all were gone (200 plus).

Originally Posted by Mishikan

My hesitation in dipping any additional rock we get is that I am afraid it will kill any small mushrooms that may grow. Currently we have several pieces of rock that grown beautiful mushrooms we never even saw. Won't dipping them kill all life on the rock?

Honestly, if I were you, I'd add a few peppermints in your tank if you don't want to run the risk of more aiptasia coming in on new pieces, but you don't want to dip or purchase another fish.

I have had 100% luck all 3 times I've used peppermint shrimp to eradicate aiptasia in 3 different tanks. Within a matter of a few days it was all gone, and never came back. They are FANTASTIC aiptasia eradicators, and they are super fun shrimp I've also never had any issues with them picking at corals, as a lot of people are nervous about when they purchase them (since they are pickers). As long as your tank is well fed, they will leave the corals alone.

Reefs2Go.com, one of our great sponsors, has aiptasia-eating peppermint shrimp. Really, I very much suggest putting in peppermints. It's a cheap, easy route. Just my $.02

I bought 3 peppermint shrimp and have had no luck.