Alien life on a sump powerhead

[gray808]

For a while I was running a crappy little 'fuge in the same chamber my skimmer is in; chaeto, a light, a cheap powerhead, and a rotating cast of DIY stuff trying to keep the chaeto out of the skimmer intake. Anyway, it was never growing well, and I ended up abandoning the project, with plans to add a algae reactor sometime in the future. So, chaeto got pitched, all the DIY stuff removed, but I forgot to pull the powerhead, only realizing today it was in there, powered down, for months.

I went to pull it out, and discovered The Andronema Strain in my sump:

What the heck is that?

--Gray

 

[afishbestservedcold]

the blobs are pineapple sponges, idk what the stringy bits are but probably another sponge

 

[Basementreefer]

I have the same in my sump. Must be some kind of sponge.

 

[jeffchapok]

Definitely sponge. They are filter feeders, so I'd probably leave them if it was me.

 

[gray808]

Hmmm. They seem to be colonizing my return pump intake. I'll leave the others in the sump, and scrub them off the intake.

--Gray

 

[Brady4000]

The stringy stuff really takes over fast. Had a small amount on a plug and it almost killed my zoa because of how fast it grew. I would get rid of it. Grows way too fast.

Was told it was just a sponge.

Only reason I even know what it is, was because I was just dealing with it.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/what’s-growing-on-my-zoas-not-sure-if-it’s-an-emergency.817248/