Tunicates..??

[FishFreakLuke]

Well, I have a crazy growth of these within my tank. They seem to only be on the live rock, however staying away from the coraline. In shaded areas and a few on the glass towards the bottom of the bed. None of these are on the actual sand..
Mysterious, my coral is not effected by them YET!..
HELP!!...I'm not sure what to really do here. The tank has been running for some years now, but these have rapidly came with multitudinous in a short time, about 6 to 8 weeks..
I'm worried about the future of the reef now?..will they continously grow or what exactly might happen now if I decide not take action...

Plus are these actual tunicates in the first place??? Here, are some pics.
Please help, any suggestions and thanks in advancement!

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

I believe it is sponge. The fast growing type.

 

[FishFreakLuke]

I take it that this might not be a positive sponge than?
Do you know if this type of sponge can eradicate my system or should I let it go through the course??

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

Try and see if you can peel them off

 

[FishFreakLuke]

Try and see if you can peel them off

Sure,
I can do that..they are, very jelly like.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Well, I have a crazy growth of these within my tank. They seem to only be on the live rock, however staying away from the coraline. In shaded areas and a few on the glass towards the bottom of the bed. None of these are on the actual sand..
Mysterious, my coral is not effected by them YET!..
HELP!!...I'm not sure what to really do here. The tank has been running for some years now, but these have rapidly came with multitudinous in a short time, about 6 to 8 weeks..
I'm worried about the future of the reef now?..will they continously grow or what exactly might happen now if I decide not take action...

Plus are these actual tunicates in the first place??? Here, are some pics.
Please help, any suggestions and thanks in advancement!

This is cryptic sponge and can be invasive. Best removed outside of tank or inside, pull gently with a dental pick or small crochet needle.
You can also inject with vinegar and it will shrink

 

[FishFreakLuke]

Sure,
I can do that..they are, very jelly like.

So they do come off very easy?!?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Those look like sponges to me.

Unless they start overgrowing corals, sponges are generally harmless filter feeders (though with a population like yours, you may want to try and trim it back a bit, as sponges can mess with the microbiome in ways that favor algae and sponges over corals - I don’t know if that would be the case here, but it seems possible to me).

Sometimes sponges will go away on their own, sometimes they don’t - it depends on the tank. Generally speaking, though, for unwanted sponges, manual removal is (to my knowledge) the best option.

If you’re hoping to find the root cause behind the appearance of the sponges so you can prevent it from happening again, I’d guess (but I don’t know for sure) that with a population boom like that, you most likely had some sort of bacteria and/or organic nutrient boom in your tank that provided great conditions for the sponges to grow in.

Water changes, noting anything that may have changed briefly before the sponges appeared (i.e. trying to see if something noticeable changed that may have directly caused this), and cleaning your rocks/sand (particularly if this is an older tank) to remove any trapped nutrients that may be leaching out may all be helpful for managing the sponge population, but only if any of these are related to/help you identify the cause.

All of that said, though, again, generally speaking, sponges are harmless filter feeders, so - unless they start overgrowing corals or you think the look bad - I personally wouldn’t worry about them (I like sponges, though, so I am a little biased).

 

[FishFreakLuke]

This is cryptic sponge and can be invasive. Best removed outside of tank or inside, pull gently with a dental pick or small crochet needle.
You can also inject with vinegar and it will shrink

Ic, well that confirms what they are..When I went to pull them off it did retract a bit definitely bad news..
Thanks so much for the advice and ID.

 

[Spare time]

Find if you have a silicate source

 

[FishFreakLuke]

Those look like sponges to me.

Unless they start overgrowing corals, sponges are generally harmless filter feeders (though with a population like yours, you may want to try and trim it back a bit, as sponges can mess with the microbiome in ways that favor algae and sponges over corals - I don’t know if that would be the case here, but it seems possible to me).

Sometimes sponges will go away on their own, sometimes they don’t - it depends on the tank. Generally speaking, though, for unwanted sponges, manual removal is (to my knowledge) the best option.

If you’re hoping to find the root cause behind the appearance of the sponges so you can prevent it from happening again, I’d guess (but I don’t know for sure) that with a population boom like that, you most likely had some sort of bacteria and/or organic nutrient boom in your tank that provided great conditions for the sponges to grow in.

Water changes, noting anything that may have changed briefly before the sponges appeared (i.e. trying to see if something noticeable changed that may have directly caused this), and cleaning your rocks/sand (particularly if this is an older tank) to remove any trapped nutrients that may be leaching out may all be helpful for managing the sponge population, but only if any of these are related to/help you identify the cause.

All of that said, though, again, generally speaking, sponges are harmless filter feeders, so - unless they start overgrowing corals or you think the look bad - I personally wouldn’t worry about them (I like sponges, though, so I am a little biased).

Hokey smokes,
You definitely hit it on the nose and originally thought that this was going to be a cool thing, but it went overboard!
Everything you said makes perfect sense.
I have noticed a little more algae growth and the tank is going on about 6 years now. In addition, I invested in a couple of new equipment pieces. Which definitely
has contributed to this major issue. Yeah it's starting to make my stomach churn a little, instead of being a pleasant sanctuary.

In summary, I need to "trim" them up for sure.
Thanks so much!
I appreciate it!