Plz help with what this is

[Ramon84]

Please help saw this on my fuzzy neon mushroom not sure what’s it is or what to do anyone can help?

 

[edsbeaker]

I am guessing a sponge, but wait for verification since I’m not sure.

 

[Ramon84]

It it is will dipping in
coral rx work and will it affect my other coral thank u for the suggestion

 

[edsbeaker]

From what I’ve heard, “IF” it is a sponge, like I said, I’m not 100% sure, just exposing the sponge to air could possibly kill it, depending what type of sponge it is. The air collects in there cells. You could just simply take the frag out of the tank for a minute or two and see if it dies. I’m not sure how it would respond to coral dip.

 

[Tahoe61]

You don't need to dip. Harmless sponge. :)

 

[edsbeaker]

You don't need to dip. Harmless sponge. :)

@Tahoe61 With a sponge that close to the coral could they ever cause damage to it? I don’t know much about sponges at all.
Thanks!

 

[Tahoe61]

With a sponge that close to the coral do they ever cause damage to the coral? I know nothing about them. Just curious if this ever happens in my tank.

It depends on how fast it grows. Exact identification of sponge type is difficult even to experts. If the sponge is over taking a coral a soft tooth brush will do the trick. Liver sponges and a few others require more diligence. Most sponges aren't invasive.

 

[edsbeaker]

It depends on how fast it grows. Exact identification of sponge type is difficult even to experts. If the sponge is over taking a coral a soft tooth brush will do the trick. Liver sponges and a few others require more diligence. Most sponges aren't invasive.

Thank you. There have been a lot of “please ID this”. threads recently that have turned out to be sponges, and it got me thinking.

 

[Ramon84]

Thank you everyone really appreciate the time and knowledge I am going to pop off frag and remove from tank water put tank water in a small container then close the coral and brush it off and leave it out the water for a min or so the put it back in tank on sand bed to make sure it is gone. Thanks everyone have a great day!!!

 

[Ramon84]

I removed from Frag dip with coral rx and placed with putty on a piece of live rock hope it dose well looks better in my option it’s coming back out

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Yeah, definitely a sponge - for reference on determining if a sponge is invasive/harmful (few are), see the quote below:

Yeah, that's definitely a sponge. Most sponges are completely harmless/beneficial, but some can be invasive and/or harmful to corals (thankfully, these are rare).

To tell if a sponge is chemically harmful: if a healthy, established coral starts closing up or looking to be in bad shape on the side closest to the sponge as the sponge grows closer to it, and nothing else has happened (lighting changes, parameter swings, pests, etc.) that could explain it, then the sponge is probably chemically harmful.

Chemically harmful sponges are very rare.

For invasive sponges: unless it shows signs of being chemically harmful or starts actively growing over and smothering a coral's flesh/polyps, it's harmless. These can grow over the skeletons of corals, around the base/stalks of corals, even up into the water column above corals (where they're over the coral but not growing on the flesh or polyps themselves), etc. without harming the coral at all - as long as the coral flesh and polyps can get food, light, and flow, the sponge is harmless.

Invasive sponges are moderately rare.

Invasive and chemically harmful sponges are incredibly rare.