Thanks but that looks like the red macro algae growing in front of the filter feeder? Doesn't look like the sponge filter creature in question.Looks like "Halymenia Elongata - Red Finger" very cool and a rare find.
there are no animals living in it. If I touch it, or a hermit walks on it, it will quickly close the openings and shrink in size. its a very soft organism, only the little "mouth" pieces or the entrances and exit points of the water are a little hard.
yeah I thought. didn't know what else to call it cause it felt "spongy" haha
Thanks I think that is what it is!
Really? why are they hard to keep?
That’s just what I’ve “heard” from other reefers. I’ve always said I wanted the colorful variety all along the bed of my tank. In the wild, they’re usually found around sponges and it’s beautiful. I believe water flows in one tube, it filters it and water out the other tube. I guess you’d have to keep enough food in column for them as well as enough flow for them to filter. I am by no means an expert and this is just from what I’ve heard. But if you can keep it, they’re totally cool.
Thanks man. I will see how it goes and keep the forum updated. Been about 3 weeks thus far and so far as good!
Sounds cool. I did a quick read about them. Some are easier to keep than others. They have strong nutritional needs such as phytoplankton and zooplankton. Some photosynthesize.
I have collected my macroalgae out the ocean here, and when I bring them home, the container they are in (I keep them in containers full of the ocean water) is teeming with ting organisms. Some larger, some you can just barely see. I usually remove crabs if I find them, but keep everything else. I'm wondering if by doing this I have introduced a few colonies of these planktons which are breeding and providing a food source for it.
Thanks for that link! I have realized that I have a lot of the tiny little colourless ones as mentioned in the article around my tank.
I’ve always wondered about using ocean water and phyto as well. Will the phyto continue to grow in my system? Or will other microalgae currently in my system outcompete it? And ocean water does bring some interesting things. Most life in the ocean starts out as tiny, microscopic organisms and then grow. Then you’ll start seeing weird things growing all over the place. I find weird things in my tank all the time.
That's an interesting point.
