Pine apple sponge explosion

[reefchi]

Hello,

Looking to get some advice on how to get rid of and understand why I’m have an explosion of pineapple sponges in my AIO tank. I’m having it in the back chambers and also in the main display.

I understand they’re good to have but it’s getting out of hand and bother the corals.
I do feed heavy frozen which I’ve stopped and just feeding TDO pellets ice a day.

I have a stage 7 RODI which I’ll start replacing the sediment filter first. I changed out all the filter about a year ago and only do about 5gallons a week. Only one of the resin has started to change but not a lot.

I’m doing 5gallon water changes every week in hope to get rid of them but kind scared of dropping nutrients too low.

 

[reefchi]

Also wanted to point out I have Chaeto in the back chamber, but have removed it yesterday during a water change. I didn’t really notice a big benefit in this AIO and always had to clean it since it was messy. Also didn’t know if might be contributing to this issue.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

The nutrients are in the water to feed them. If there are not enough nutrients in the water, they will shrivel and turn white and die. If the nitrate shows low, its because the nutrients are being consumed from the water before they have a chance to be converted to nitrate. From your comment about feeding heavy, I get the impression you add more food than your fish can consume, IMO its probably uneaten food that is causing them to spread so fast. Try to feed small amounts more often and avoid uneaten food.