White things on Live rocks

[Satyabrata Ganguly]

Cannot identify what these things are on my

rock. Plz suggest how to get rid of them.urgently help needed.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Pineapple sponges. Is your tank newish?

 

[brandon429]

I have some and my tank is running long time

Lift out rock and scrape em off if don't like but prob not going to help. They get seeded by things we add, hard substrates and corals etc

Harmless rock fauna sponges or tunicates but either way welcome to early benthic colonization. I like em

 

[Satyabrata Ganguly]

Yes it is a new tank. Are they harmless? How can I get rid of them?

 

[Lionfish Lair]

I just pluck them out by hand during water changes. Sometimes when it's a newish tank, you are a little heavy of nutrients and diatoms (which they love) and they come on strong. As the available nutrients wane, they tend to plateau in numbers. Sometimes they fade back a little after that time. If it's an older tank and they were coming on strong all of a sudden and you didn't appreciate it, I would tell you to re-evaluate your feedings and tank maintenance schedule.

 

[Satyabrata Ganguly]

Will it get eradicated by water changes?

 

[Lionfish Lair]

No, not really. It would have to be pretty extreme, I would think, to actually remove them that way. It would help them not to climb in numbers, though.

 

[Satyabrata Ganguly]

Thanks a lot..

 

[Lionfish Lair]

I have them in my tank too.

 

[Satyabrata Ganguly]

I wd love to see a pic of ur tank.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

My lights aren't on yet, but where the sponges are residing for me now, is behind the rockwork on the overflow. For awhile it looked they were going to get out of control for a bit. I watched and waited and made sure I did my water changes and they receded all the way back to where they are now. I didn't actually have to remove the ones from the rocks, but I would have if they didn't get under control. There were some on the glass and those I removed with regular maintenance chores.

This is what they look like now.... I wish I had of taken a picture when they were everywhere for a bit.

 

[Satyabrata Ganguly]

Can u suggest some regular maintenance for me?

 

[Lionfish Lair]

I just clean off the surfaces and do a nice water change every 2 weeks to a month. If you see nuisance algae or a lot of filter feeders settling in, do a little more frequent water changes.

 

[Satyabrata Ganguly]

If its at interval of 2 weeks/month,what would be the % of water change? What salt would u prefer?

 

[Lionfish Lair]

I'm not a good one to ask about salt, as I am way not researched on that topic. I use Instant Ocean. It's what was in the stores 20 years ago and I've never switched. I see the discussion going on around the forums, but I've honestly never even read the threads that I can remember.

I change 50 gallons on my 210g. One bag makes 50 gallons of water and my water barrel happens to holds 50, so it's perfect.

[HASHTAG]#reefsquad[/HASHTAG] , do you have some salt suggestions to help our new friend?

 

[Ebone]

pineapple sponges.... they just seem to go away after awhile... they seem to be one of first organisms in new tank... eventually they just vanish...

 

[kschweer]

I'm not a good one to ask about salt, as I am way not researched on that topic. I use Instant Ocean. It's what was in the stores 20 years ago and I've never switched. I see the discussion going on around the forums, but I've honestly never even read the threads that I can remember.

I change 50 gallons on my 210g. One bag makes 50 gallons of water and my water barrel happens to holds 50, so it's perfect.

[HASHTAG]#reefsquad[/HASHTAG] , do you have some salt suggestions to help our new friend?

I too use instant ocean.

 

[Satyabrata Ganguly]

What trace elements wd u suggest? I use Seachem Reef complete,carbonate,Iodide,Trace n Reef plus. Are they ok?