ID Please

[ben5impson]

Can anyone ID this. appeared in the past week by the dozens about 1mm long. had a wrasse which may have been eating them prior to it jumping from the tank. haven't added anything new to the tank for months besides some cowries.
at first I thought they might have been tunicates until I saw the little tentacles.

 

[Labridaedicted]

Pineapple sponge. Perfectly harmless and normal filter feeders that will show up over time in healthy tanks.

 

[IKD]

Lots of posts lately on pineapple sponges. Must be something in the water….

 

[ying yang]

What is that!! A R2R guide to common new tank hitchhikers.

One of the greatest things about starting a reef tank is getting your live rock in and admiring all the diversity within it. The rock comes to life different creatures. This is a guide that I, along with a very well known critter identifier @KJ , have put together for the new reefer on what...

www.reef2reef.com

Some other common hitch hikers here for you.

 

[ben5impson]

Pineapple sponge. Perfectly harmless and normal filter feeders that will show up over time in healthy tanks.

so they are a good sign and won't cause issues with an exploding population?

 

[Labridaedicted]

Shouldn't cause problems unless you just don't like the look of them. Harmless and in situations beneficial. A lot of angels in particular like to snack on them.

 

[vetteguy53081]

These are short lived and thrive off algae and silicate and often favor areas that are low light and low flow. They soon dissipate and vanish and are deemed harmless

 

[ben5impson]

Shouldn't cause problems unless you just don't like the look of them. Harmless and in situations beneficial. A lot of angels in particular like to snack on them.

These are short lived and thrive off algae and silicate and often favor areas that are low light and low flow. They soon dissipate and vanish and are deemed harmless

this is great news. they don't bother me too much now I know what they are I thought it was like the marine equivalent of the fungus the grows on driftwood.
I haven't been game to add angels as my tanks rather small and always hear about them bothering corals. maybe when I upgrade and that grows in because I do love them.

 

[Roli's Reef Ranch]

Lots of posts lately on pineapple sponges. Must be something in the water….

silicates

 

[ben5impson]

silicates

possibly but my Si0² is or just under 0.1ppm and I can't test any lower. but I thought they were fine up to 0.4ppm

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

silicates

possibly but my Si0² is or just under 0.1ppm and I can't test any lower. but I thought they were fine up to 0.4ppm

It likely is fine.

I’ve heard that pineapple sponges rely on silicates in the water, but I struggle to see why this would be the case since these are calcareous (i.e. calcium carbonate based) sponges, not silica based sponges (genus Sycon, taxonomic class Calcarea). I just don’t understand what they would need the silica for since they don’t use it to build their body structure (spicules).

Pineapple Sponges (genus Sycon) are in the taxonomic class of Calcarea. Sponges in this class are characterized by having spicules made of calcium carbonate, and Sycon is in the order Leucosolenoida (whose skeletons are composed entirely of their spicules), so I can’t imagine them needing the silica for their structure. However, from all of the anecdotal reports I’ve read, these sponges are silica limited, so I’m curious if they really are, and what they would need the silica for.

 

[ben5impson]

It likely is fine.

I’ve heard that pineapple sponges rely on silicates in the water, but I struggle to see why this would be the case since these are calcareous (i.e. calcium carbonate based) sponges, not silica based sponges (genus Sycon, taxonomic class Calcarea). I just don’t understand what they would need the silica for since they don’t use it to build their body structure (spicules).

I'll test that tomorrow not that I'm bothered by them or want them gone especially when they feed on algae in the water column. just like a clear picture and want to work out all possible causes of everything good or bad..so down the line I can both avoid the bad and encourage the good in my tanks. I haven't actually tested my calcium before despite having the test in my kit haha just felt like it was adequate due to early and consistent coralline growth. I know that's super irresponsible but as I'm not dosing I figure it is what it is with weekly water changes until I can afford to add dosing pumps to my setup. but if don't my tank on less than a beer budget it's more like a cask wine budget so far so good besides an absolute explosion on algae which smothered a few corals and an impending Australia summer which is going to be a real test although a chiller is my next major purchase followed by dosing pumps