Cobweb like stuff growing on the corals

[Anas Ahmed]

Hi.
So, we have built a tank in our office and there are some cobweb like stuff growing on the corals. I have attached pictures. Does anyone know what is happening? And should we be worried? It seems to be spreading at a ridiculously fast pace. It's been about 2 days since it started to grow and it's grown a lot.

 

[Tahoe61]

Welcome to R2R.

The white substance covering the rock is harmless sponge, a nice sign of bio-diversity, no intervention warranted.

 

[Anas Ahmed]

Oh. Okay then. But it seems like it might spread to the entire tank. Should I let it grow? Will it dissapear at some point?

 

[Tahoe61]

Sponge growth waxes and wanes, it's pretty rare for a sponge to become so invasive that the sponge becomes an issue. You can take a turkey baster and try to blow some of it off. Often hobbyist see increased sponge growth in newer systems were silicate levels are a tad higher or in tanks were silicates are being added.
I would just wait and watch at this point.

I encourage you to start a tank thread to seek assistance when needed, and to show off the tank.
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/member-tanks.52/

How old is the tank?

 

[Anas Ahmed]

Sponge growth waxes and wanes, it's pretty rare for a sponge to become so invasive that the sponge becomes an issue. You can take a turkey baster and try to blow some of it off. Often hobbyist see increased sponge growth in newer systems were silicate levels are a tad higher or in tanks were silicates are being added.
I would just wait and watch at this point.

I encourage you to start a tank thread to seek assistance when needed, and to show off the tank.
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/member-tanks.52/

How old is the tank?

Alright. Thanks for the info.

The tank is 5 days old as of today. Not long, I know. Just got freaked out a bit because our previous tank didn't have any of those growths when we first made it.

And I will create a thread and show it off once we got some more soft corals. Right now we have mostly rocks and a couple of soft corals. We plan on going on a snorkelling/diving trip to get some this week.

 

[Blue Carbon Reefing]

Can we see more shots of the yellow angelfish in the picture? There may be a parasite on the fish.

 

[Anas Ahmed]

Can we see more shots of the yellow angelfish in the picture? There may be a parasite on the fish.

Here you go. Sorry about the bad pics. They don't exactly stay still for pics lol. It looks like a piece of the sponge from the rocke to me. Not a parasite. Should I try removing it?

 

[Ashish Patel]

I sourced sponges to seed my dry rock and when I added it to my tank it looked like your picture. Sponges will die when they hit the air but luckily they will regenerating in those spots pretty fast - You'll notice they will be more fuller in time.. IMO Sponges are the most important organism along with Algae that equate to long term success and stability. They grow well in a dark sump so if possible remove some and add to the sump..

 

[Blue Carbon Reefing]

Calling in the experts for an opinion. @Humblefish @melypr1985 .. Please see the picture of the white spot on the angelfish above. Tank has only been up and running for 5-7 days. It may be harmless and they may tell you to just keep an eye on it for a few days. Please advise.

 

[Humblefish]

Could be Lympho: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lymphocystis.257461/

Seen anything like that on any of your fishes' fins?

 

[Anas Ahmed]

Could be Lympho: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lymphocystis.257461/

Seen anything like that on any of your fishes' fins?

Nope. Just the angelfish....and just one spot. It isn't spreading. At least wasn't last night. I will have one of my co-workers check on it today since I'm out of the city right now.

 

[five.five-six]

Alright. Thanks for the info.

The tank is 5 days old as of today. Not long, I know. Just got freaked out a bit because our previous tank didn't have any of those growths when we first made it.

And I will create a thread and show it off once we got some more soft corals. Right now we have mostly rocks and a couple of soft corals. We plan on going on a snorkelling/diving trip to get some this week.

That sponge will all be gone soon. Photosynthetic alagaes will outcompete it for space. Sponges tend to thrive where light doesn't give algae a compeditive advantage.

 

[jelazar]

No way a sponge spreads that much in just 5 days. But I have seen white stuff like that appear on live rock when there's die off from shipping. It was a pretty common sight when everyone bought transshipped live rock that sat in a box for a few days.