Sponge or tunicate? Bad or good?

[Aeiyr]

So there's been this odd Relish orange growth on one of my rocks in my nanao. It began around the base of a micromussa that honestly, hasn't grown a bit in 5 months.

I'll include pictures. Texture-wise it feels kind of slick. It has a webby translucent outer layer with funnel like holes in it that seem to reacted to flow or being prodded. Anyways, is this a bad thing? Is it going to completely dominate this rock and smother corals? If so, how would I go about getting ride of it?

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Encrusting sponge - harmless/beneficial filter-feeders

 

[Aeiyr]

Encrusting sponge - harmless/beneficial filter-feeders

Do I need to worry about it taking over the entire rock? Or will it stick the the crevasses in the rock as it seems to be doing now?

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Do I need to worry about it taking over the entire rock? Or will it stick the the crevasses in the rock as it seems to be doing now?

They don't like sunlight very much IME so they'll likely stay confined to the underside of rocks and corals. They do grow quickly so they are/will be very abundant in your rockwork. They will only grow "on" corals if said coral is already receding, if so than they'll just grow on the bare skeleton

 

[Aeiyr]

They don't like sunlight very much IME so they'll likely stay confined to the underside of rocks and corals. They do grow quickly so they are/will be very abundant in your rockwork. They will only grow "on" corals if said coral is already receding, if so than they'll just grow on the bare skeleton

Sounds good. Last question. If it did go nuts on me, what's the best way to deal with that/ prune it?

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Sounds good. Last question. If it did go nuts on me, what's the best way to deal with that/ prune it?

Scraping it off outside the tank would work, also I think I heard hydrogen peroxide would work but I'm not sure (@ISpeakForTheSeas could tell you)

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Yeah, that's definitely a sponge. Most sponges are completely harmless/beneficial, but some can be invasive and/or harmful to corals (thankfully, these are rare).

To tell if a sponge is chemically harmful: if a healthy, established coral starts closing up or looking to be in bad shape on the side closest to the sponge as the sponge grows closer to it, and nothing else has happened (lighting changes, parameter swings, pests, etc.) that could explain it, then the sponge is probably chemically harmful.

Chemically harmful sponges are very rare.

For invasive sponges: unless it shows signs of being chemically harmful or starts actively growing over and smothering a coral's flesh/polyps, it's harmless. These can grow over the skeletons of corals, around the base/stalks of corals, even up into the water column above corals (where they're over the coral but not growing on the flesh or polyps themselves), etc. without harming the coral at all - as long as the coral flesh and polyps can get food, light, and flow, the sponge is harmless.

Invasive sponges are moderately rare.

Invasive and chemically harmful sponges are incredibly rare.

For removing or trimming back/controlling sponges:

The best way I've heard to control sponge growth at this point is to use a steel straw to scrape and siphon out the sponge you want to remove. Sometimes you can create bad conditions for them and kill them off that way, but that's typically much harder and not always effective.

Some other sponge removal methods:

Other suggestions include exposing the sponge to air (obviously not a guaranteed solution, and definitely not viable for this situation); hydrogen peroxide dipping the sponge (again, not viable here); injecting the sponge with hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, boiling water, or air; microbubbles in the display; and a few more. Predation is not usually a good solution for this issue

Basically, if the sponges have enough food and enough trace elements (which for most sponges includes silicates) to meet their needs, then you’ll see their populations booming.

If you can figure out what’s allowing them to thrive in your tank, then you can deal with that root cause and get rid of them.

Edit: To add, some sponges have incredible regenerative capabilities, so multiple removals may be necessary, and doing what you can to minimize the odds of remaining sponge cells ending up back in your tank is recommended:

I would try the scraping with a steel straw/brushing with a toothbrush and siphoning out for that one in particular - if you can do this is a bowl of saltwater out of the tank (I don't recommend adding the water to the tank after) and rinse with clean saltwater (not from the bowl) afterwards, that would be even better.

 

[Aeiyr]

Yeah, that's definitely a sponge. Most sponges are completely harmless/beneficial, but some can be invasive and/or harmful to corals (thankfully, these are rare).

To tell if a sponge is chemically harmful: if a healthy, established coral starts closing up or looking to be in bad shape on the side closest to the sponge as the sponge grows closer to it, and nothing else has happened (lighting changes, parameter swings, pests, etc.) that could explain it, then the sponge is probably chemically harmful.

Chemically harmful sponges are very rare.

For invasive sponges: unless it shows signs of being chemically harmful or starts actively growing over and smothering a coral's flesh/polyps, it's harmless. These can grow over the skeletons of corals, around the base/stalks of corals, even up into the water column above corals (where they're over the coral but not growing on the flesh or polyps themselves), etc. without harming the coral at all - as long as the coral flesh and polyps can get food, light, and flow, the sponge is harmless.

Invasive sponges are moderately rare.

Invasive and chemically harmful sponges are incredibly rare.

For removing or trimming back/controlling sponges:

Edit: To add, some sponges have incredible regenerative capabilities, so multiple removals may be necessary, and doing what you can to minimize the odds of remaining sponge cells ending up back in your tank is recommended:

Thank you so much! I'll save all of this info now. I certainly don't wish to harm it if it's reef friendly. Spores must've snuck in on a frag. If I may ask, are sponges more passive to reefs, or can they truly be beneficial in some way? What do they typically uptake that could benefit the reef by removing from the water?

 

[mfollen]

No I have battled this sponge in my system. If it is the same sponge that I have had, treat it like its evil.

I’ve had this grow through rock and encompass rock. Grow around healthy hammer coral.

Don’t scrape it, it will spread.

I removed some rocks if it was well consumed by the sponge through parts of it.

Otherwise I inject kalk paste into it which is very effective. For what you don’t directly inject, surrounding sponge sucks up the paste.
But I’d be thorough in injecting it before it spreads further.

It is very persistent

For the record I have other sponges and they are fine. But this is different. My number one reef nemesis

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

If I may ask, are sponges more passive to reefs, or can they truly be beneficial in some way? What do they typically uptake that could benefit the reef by removing from the water?

They're generally somewhat beneficial - they typically consume Dissolved and Particulate Organic Matter (Phytoplankton, Bacteria, Cyanobacteria, Diatoms, Viruses, etc.), helping to keep the water clean and uptaking some nutrients. They may also remove some amount of certain contaminants/pollutants like some metals and other elements, for example.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Don’t scrape it, it will spread.

I removed some rocks if it was well consumed by the sponge through parts of it.

Otherwise I inject kalk paste into it which is very effective. For what you don’t directly inject, surrounding sponge sucks up the paste.
But I’d be thorough in injecting it before it spreads further.

Ah, yeah, I should clarify here - the scraping and siphoning method I refer to literally siphons through the straw as you scrape to try and prevent spreading (this is also why I recommend doing this in a bowl outside of the tank).

That said, I have heard of people having success with injections of various things (and it's one of the other methods listed above as well), so that may be a better method to try first, OP.

 

[Aeiyr]

Ah, yeah, I should clarify here - the scraping and siphoning method I refer to literally siphons through the straw as you scrape to try and prevent spreading (this is also why I recommend doing this in a bowl outside of the tank).

That said, I have heard of people having success with injections of various things (and it's one of the other methods listed above as well), so that may be a better method to try first, OP.

I'll keep that in mind. I had considered a harsh scrub with a brush in a bowl or bucket of water taken during a waterchange. But worried the spores would be all over it from the scrubbing. Though I could rinse it after by pouring more water set aside over it. This would undoubtedly upset the corals I have on that rock though. Should I be as concerned as the response prior had mentioned with their experience?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I'll keep that in mind. I had considered a harsh scrub with a brush in a bowl or bucket of water taken during a waterchange. But worried the spores would be all over it from the scrubbing. Though I could rinse it after by pouring more water set aside over it. This would undoubtedly upset the corals I have on that rock though. Should I be as concerned as the response prior had mentioned with their experience?

Yeah, careful injections may be more prudent then.

For the level of concern you should feel, that depends on the exact sponge species and the conditions of your tank, but I generally say that these things aren't worth stressing over, so if it's going to worry you, it's probably wise to remove it (or remove most of it and keep the rest on an isolated rock where you can easily contain it).

Sponge ID at the species level can be very tough, and may require a microscope or DNA:

Anyway, here’s a good Sponge ID resource for anyone who’s interested- as mentioned, though, sometimes DNA is the best indicator for telling sponges apart:
https://www.fao.org/3/i7773e/i7773e.pdf And, here’s a decent example of why sponge ID by non-microscopic sight is not always reliable:
https://www.researchgate.net/figure...rating-variations-in-shape-and_fig6_248716402

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Yeah, careful injections may be more prudent then.

For the level of concern you should feel, that depends on the exact sponge species and the conditions of your tank, but I generally say that these things aren't worth stressing over, so if it's going to worry you, it's probably wise to remove it (or remove most of it and keep the rest on an isolated rock where you can easily contain it).

Sponge ID at the species level can be very tough, and may require a microscope or DNA:

I have at least 4 different species of encrusting sponge in my tank (1 brown, one yellow, one blue and one orange) none have ever harmed anything

 

[Aeiyr]

I have at least 4 different species of encrusting sponge in my tank (1 brown, one yellow, one blue and one orange) none have ever harmed anything

I'll keep an eye on it. As shown, it has stayed in the natural valleys of the rock and grown in a direction away from light. It has surrounded the micromussa base, but in 4 months since I noticed it, it has not grown over or covered any flesh. It seems to want to stay in the direction it's going. If it gets bad at all I'm not beyond pulling the corals off that rock and plopping it outside to dry dead before recuring it in a bucket. My only annoyance would be that it's a nice piece of arched rock from a liferock kit.