Tunicates Tunicates, & more Tunicates

[tutmatt3]

These guys are popping up EVERYWHERE. Mainly in low light areas. Mostly in low flow, but also seen em in high flow.

I know they aren't a bad thing, but I literally have countless in some areas. Some are forming between zoas, all over equipment, sand, back wall, and when i turkey baste some - they'll land on a healthy piece of SPS and stay there till I hit em again. Pretty unsightly & make my tank look unpleasant in areas that have 100's of em (yes, 100s)

I was told they would hang out until they eat up all their food source, but I've beginning to think me feeding Oyster Feast IS their food source.

I feed my 55g tank .5ml per night.

Thoughts??

Thanks!

 

[Katrina71]

Pics please.

 

[94Roarge]

^ +1

 

[tutmatt3]

Edited first pic to include some. Thanks!
I can bring out the DSLR if needed for HD pics

 

[Maritimer]

They do look a bit like tunicates, don't they?

They're pineapple sponges, though. Like tunicates, they're harmless filter feeders. Unlike tunicates, they seem to do fairly well in aquariums.

~Bruce

 

[tutmatt3]

They do look a bit like tunicates, don't they?

They're pineapple sponges, though. Like tunicates, they're harmless filter feeders. Unlike tunicates, they seem to do fairly well in aquariums.

~Bruce

Got it! Thanks

Sooooo, anything I can do to eradicate em? xD
Do you think it's the oyster feast that's allowing them to thrive in plague #s?

I do (did) rinse my HoB filters in pressured tap water (need pressure so get the gunk off the back, shaking in RODI wouldn't work)
You think it's possibly left over tap water doing the job?

I'll have to look into better solutions for my HOB filters collecting so much gunk. Maybe toss filter socks on the filters themselves, and just toss them / replace every week or so?
Will save me hosing my carbon filters down so frequently.

 

[Maritimer]

Reducing nutrients, whether Oyster Feast or "gunk", will probably act as a control.

You've definitely got more of 'em than just about anyone I've seen!

~Bruce

 

[tutmatt3]

Reducing nutrients, whether Oyster Feast or "gunk", will probably act as a control.

You've definitely got more of 'em than just about anyone I've seen!

~Bruce

Thanks!
I have a fear if I back off too quick I might have little spikes from so many dying

 

[Maritimer]

That's a good fear to have.

Back it down slowly, over a few weeks or so. The sponges are doing no harm, they're just not scintillatingly beautiful.

~Bruce

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Don't eradicate them.
One other thing they love is silicates.

I don't take those over diatoms any day.
They appear ,imo, for the same reason in a new tank.

The poulation usually dies off over time.

 

[tutmatt3]

That's a good fear to have.

Back it down slowly, over a few weeks or so. The sponges are doing no harm, they're just not scintillatingly beautiful.

~Bruce

Haha even if they were a Zoa, I prefer variety over 100's / 1000's of one type of lifeform xD

I was feeding oyster feast every night, but i'll begin to reduce it to every other night. Then i'll begin to reduce the dose slightly & see if I can find a good balance

Don't eradicate them.
One other thing they love is silicates.

I don't take those over diatoms any day.
They appear ,imo, for the same reason in a new tank.

The poulation usually dies off over time.

Yeah, I'm sure even if I wanted to eradicate them - I wouldn't be able to without causing something else in the tank harm. There are wayyyyyyyyy too many for me to even attempt to eradicate.
I'll just let them do their thing while slowly adjusting some current habits, such as the nightly oyster feast feedings.

Maybe my rinsing of HOB carbon filters also operates as a constant source of silica? who knows

 

[karo25]

I know this is way after your post but I also had hundreds if not thousands of them. They were piling up in my sump so I stirred them up in the main display, caught what I could in filter socks... washed those badboys 3 times in hot water with a touch of bleach, cleaned out my sump. They came back but weren't as bad and I've been diligently working on getting my nutrients down. Around the same time I had a Timberline crab that was chewing on some corals so I threw him down in the sump. A few days later I checked on him and saw him tearing through the pineapple sponges that were still in the sump. A few months later and there's not a pineapple sponge to be found in my sump. There are a few still in the display but they're back in the rocks so I'm not worried about them.... Just thought I'd share ;Shy

 

[chicago]

I have frag QT 30 gallon tank... finging these guys... yet no food added to the sytem and they are doing too well. RTN just hit my frag tank.... so bummed.. wondering but doubtful if any correlation