Possible Coral Growth/Hitchhiker

Noah's Shark · Mar 22, 2020

Good afternoon everyone,
I was moving some live rock from a local elementary school's tank to help keep it alive while the school shuts down, when I noticed a strange growth on one of the tube-worm infested pieces. Can someone help me identify it?
Thank you and have a wonderful day.

Noah's Shark · Mar 22, 2020

I apologize for the duplicate images. If you are able to identify it and it is a coral, is there a way I could frag this without a water cooled band saw?

35ppt · Mar 22, 2020

Not sure with ID but if you want to remove it a hack saw or dremel tool will work as will wire cutters but with less control.

Dragon52 · Mar 22, 2020

Are you talking about the round peice or the purple, the round looks like a mushroom, not sure about the purple.

Noah's Shark · Mar 22, 2020

Dragon52 said:
Are you talking about the round peice or the purple, the round looks like a mushroom, not sure about the purple.

The round thing. I was thinking mushroom as well. I'm not sure about the purple, but the rock is so infested I am just going to toss it after removing the mushroom.

Mr_Knightley · Mar 22, 2020

That is a Rhodactis mushroom for sure.
Don't throw out the rock! It has a type of plating sponge on it, and it seems to be in very good condition. If I were you, I would put it in your refugium if you have one.
Good luck and god bless!

35ppt · Mar 22, 2020

Noah's Shark said:
The round thing. I was thinking mushroom as well. I'm not sure about the purple, but the rock is so infested I am just going to toss it after removing the mushroom.

Wish I was local, I'd go get it from you. I don't see anything I would remove on that rock. Why don't you like to tube worms? and +1 on keeping the sponge as well.

Noah's Shark · Mar 22, 2020

35ppt said:
Wish I was local, I'd go get it from you. I don't see anything I would remove on that rock. Why don't you like to tube worms? and +1 on keeping the sponge as well.

I guess my limited knowledge of them led me to believe that they weren't the best. I guess this would be the place to ask. Should I frag the mushroom off and put it in the display tank and place the rock with the worms and sponge in my sump? I'm open to ideas.

35ppt · Mar 22, 2020

Noah's Shark said:
I guess my limited knowledge of them led me to believe that they weren't the best. I guess this would be the place to ask. Should I frag the mushroom off and put it in the display tank and place the rock with the worms and sponge in my sump? I'm open to ideas.

Depends on what you want I guess. I like the look of the worms and sponge etc so I would just leave it be in the display but if you don't like the worms you can cut the rock and remove the sponge and shroom (or just the shroom) and place them/it in the display or toss it/let it dry out. The sponge is likely photosynthetic so it would need light. I know they say you're not suppose to expose sponge to the air so maybe it's a goner anyways but I've also heard it's fine so idk. Not a ton of experience with sponges myself. Likely depends on the species.

Noah's Shark · Mar 22, 2020

35ppt said:
Depends on what you want I guess. I like the look of the worms and sponge etc so I would just leave it be in the display but if you don't like the worms you can cut the rock and remove the sponge and shroom (or just the shroom) and place them/it in the display or toss it/let it dry out. The sponge is likely photosynthetic so it would need light. I know they say you're not suppose to expose sponge to the air so maybe it's a goner anyways but I've also heard it's fine so idk. Not a ton of experience with sponges myself. Likely depends on the species.

Are there upsides and/or downsides to the worms? If they do something for me I'll keep them around.

35ppt · Mar 22, 2020

Noah's Shark said:
Are there upsides and/or downsides to the worms? If they do something for me I'll keep them around.

Filter feeders are usually a good thing IMO and adds to the bio-diversity. Also they look nice:

Calcareous Tube Worms at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

duckduckgo.com

hawk82 · Mar 23, 2020

Id keep it, like to have that rock in my tank.

Noah's Shark · Mar 23, 2020

hawk82 said:
Id keep it, like to have that rock in my tank.

How do I control the growth of the worms? I don't want my tank ruined by them.

hawk82 · Mar 23, 2020

Im not sure about that, im pretty new to this. I just like the look of all the different critters. Ive got a few of those worms and some sponges on the live rock I got from the gulf

Noah's Shark · Mar 23, 2020

Mr_Knightley said:
That is a Rhodactis mushroom for sure.
Don't throw out the rock! It has a type of plating sponge on it, and it seems to be in very good condition. If I were you, I would put it in your refugium if you have one.
Good luck and god bless!

So can the sponge still live in my sump and does it need light as mentioned somewhere earlier in the chat?

vetteguy53081 · Mar 23, 2020

Sponge in sump acceptable

Bfragale · Mar 23, 2020

I have some of the plating blue/purple sponge. Super cool. You do not find it often. It’s easy to frag when it grows, it grows fairly slow. Needs good light and flow. These specific sponges can withstand air for much longer then other sponges. Iridescent under the blues. Almost looks like a monti the way it grows.

I would put whole rock in main display if it was me.

Noah's Shark · Mar 23, 2020

Bfragale said:
I would put whole rock in main display if it was me.

That is really cool. How to you frag it, and how can I control the worm growth?

jeffchapok · Mar 23, 2020

I'd keep all of it. The sponge should do fine in your sump -- they don't like light.

Bfragale · Mar 24, 2020

Noah's Shark said:
That is really cool. How to you frag it, and how can I control the worm growth?

the feather dusters you don’t really have to do anything about. Just let them be.
For can frag the sponge with a razor blade and rubber band to some ruble.