Should it stay or should it go

[ATC]

Ok so as I was cleaning salt creep off my sump I noticed this white stuff growing on the live rock in what will eventually be a refugium what is it and should I get rid of it.

 

[Miami Reef]

Following. I’m tempted to say sponge, but I’ve never seen something like that before.

 

[BostonReefer300]

If it's really squishy---essentially goo---then it's bacteria. If it's soft, but slightly crunchy, it's sponge. If the former, don't worry about it unless it gets worse or your water starts getting cloudy. If sponge, you probably want to scrape it off into waste water or the trash. Sponges secrete toxins that are bad for corals

 

[MaxTremors]

It’s a sponge. Helps filter/polish water and there’s some theories that sponges and cryptic zones in refugiums or deep within rockwork can denitrify and reduce phosphates.

Edit: I’m not trying to debate or argue, but I don’t think there’s anything to worry about whatsoever in terms of sponges being toxic for corals. If you have live rock, you have sponges, in my 20+ years in the hobby I’ve never had anything bad happen that I can attribute to sponges (other than just purely aesthetically). There’s been a lot written lately about how sponges and cryptic zones are one of the missing links in the nutrient cycle of reef tanks. Anyway, you don’t have to actively encourage their growth and if they become a nuisance in terms of clogging equipment or blocking flow, by all means remove them, but otherwise I’d leave them alone and let them do what they do.

 

[BostonReefer300]

It’s a sponge. Helps filter/polish water and there’s some theories that sponges and cryptic zones in refugiums or deep within rockwork can denitrify and reduce phosphates.

Edit: I’m not trying to debate or argue, but I don’t think there’s anything to worry about whatsoever in terms of sponges being toxic for corals. If you have live rock, you have sponges, in my 20+ years in the hobby I’ve never had anything bad happen that I can attribute to sponges (other than just purely aesthetically). There’s been a lot written lately about how sponges and cryptic zones are one of the missing links in the nutrient cycle of reef tanks. Anyway, you don’t have to actively encourage their growth and if they become a nuisance in terms of clogging equipment or blocking flow, by all means remove them, but otherwise I’d leave them alone and let them do what they do.

I used to think the exact same. Then last week or maybe the week before, vetteguy53081 and I were helping another guy out about sponges. He said they were toxic and shared this link:

Five Reasons Sponges Are BAD For A Coral Reef Aquarium | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

Sponges are some of the most remarkable life forms that we can encounter in the ocean. These resilient and diverse ‘creatures’ are not quite single celled, not quite organisms, but colonies of single…

reefbuilders.com

That was definitely new info for me. Anyway, what the OP has looks like bacteria to me and not sponge, but as I said in my earlier post, the proof will be whether it's gooey or slightly crunchy.

 

[homer1475]

I used to think the exact same. Then last week or maybe the week before, vetteguy53081 and I were helping another guy out about sponges. He said they were toxic and shared this link:

Five Reasons Sponges Are BAD For A Coral Reef Aquarium | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

Sponges are some of the most remarkable life forms that we can encounter in the ocean. These resilient and diverse ‘creatures’ are not quite single celled, not quite organisms, but colonies of single…

reefbuilders.com

That was definitely new info for me. Anyway, what the OP has looks like bacteria to me and not sponge, but as I said in my earlier post, the proof will be whether it's gooey or slightly crunchy.

My take away from that like most "new" reefers, Do not let anything into the tank you didn't put in there.

And then theres the eventual "everything is dying in my stark sterile tank that was started with dry rock, and QT everything, why?".

Theres a reason all this stuff lives in the ocean. It's called biodiversity and 99% of it is needed for a healthy tank.

It's the pokemon mentality anymore. "Gotta catch em" all and have a display full of frag plugs and tiny little frags that I frag as soon as it has a 1/2" growth spurt. Ever notice you don't see too many grown in healthy tanks not full of tiny frags anymore?

 

[Billdogg]

It’s a sponge. Helps filter/polish water and there’s some theories that sponges and cryptic zones in refugiums or deep within rockwork can denitrify and reduce phosphates.

Edit: I’m not trying to debate or argue, but I don’t think there’s anything to worry about whatsoever in terms of sponges being toxic for corals. If you have live rock, you have sponges, in my 20+ years in the hobby I’ve never had anything bad happen that I can attribute to sponges (other than just purely aesthetically). There’s been a lot written lately about how sponges and cryptic zones are one of the missing links in the nutrient cycle of reef tanks. Anyway, you don’t have to actively encourage their growth and if they become a nuisance in terms of clogging equipment or blocking flow, by all means remove them, but otherwise I’d leave them alone and let them do what they do.

^^^This^^^

Very well stated.

My take away from that like most "new" reefers, Do not let anything into the tank you didn't put in there.

And then theres the eventual "everything is dying in my stark sterile tank that was started with dry rock, and QT everything, why?".

Theres a reason all this stuff lives in the ocean. It's called biodiversity and 99% of it is needed for a healthy tank.

It's the pokemon mentality anymore. "Gotta catch em" all and have a display full of frag plugs and tiny little frags that I frag as soon as it has a 1/2" growth spurt. Ever notice you don't see too many grown in healthy tanks not full of tiny frags anymore?

^^^and this^^^

I let my system figure it out as much as possible on its own. are there winners and losers? Sure. Welcome to the game of Life!!! IMHO, that's part of what makes this hobby so interesting.