100's of "eggs" coming out of live rock - HELP!!

saltwater8

saltwater8

Member
I went over to my tank, just to take a look of course, lol, and there was what looked like tiny sand particles floating in the aquarium.
I thought the powerheads were kicking up sand, so started to look at where the sand was being kicked up and noticed that it was coming out of the live rock! :scared:
I continued to watch for about 10 minutes and these bursts of about 10 "eggs" kept coming out of the live rock at about 5 second intervals...
Now I say "eggs" because I have no clue as to what else it could be...
What in live rock would lay literally 100's of "eggs"?
:help:
 
ryanhayes9

ryanhayes9

Active Member
i heard of a hitchhiker ON rock once that would spit little "eggs" with string attatced to them. i think peolpe said it was bad and that it might overun the tank. look back in the threads maybe you will find it.
 
saltwater8

saltwater8

Member
Nope, this isn't ON the live rock...
These, whatever they are, came from a tiny hole in the live rock.
They look like tiny sand particles...
:help:
 
ryanhayes9

ryanhayes9

Active Member
Originally Posted by Saltwater8
Nope, this isn't ON the live rock...
These, whatever they are, came from a tiny hole in the live rock.
They look like tiny sand particles...
:help:

maybe its the same thing just in the lr
 
bonebrake

bonebrake

Active Member
Probably a Stomatella snail in a hole. Sometimes they will hide in the holes and the females will shoot out eggs into the water column and the males will shoot out sperm into the water column. They are beneficial critters. If you ever see them, they look like this:
 
saltwater8

saltwater8

Member
I dont have any snails in my tank, and haven't seen any sails in the tank...
I'm not really liking the idea that no one knows what it is, LOL. ***)
:help:
BTW, what's the bring red thing in the pic also? Fire shrimp?
 
bonebrake

bonebrake

Active Member
You don't buy Stomatella normally; they are a common live rock hitchhiker.
We need a better picture of the red critter to identify it.
 
randomness224

randomness224

New Member
Living rocks shoot out sperm and egg cells which is how they reproduce, they shoot out so many to ensure that the sperm and the eggs react to eachother, and eventually they turn into little babies, and then grow up to plant themselves firmly on the ground and become, well a rock.
 
geridoc

geridoc

Well-Known Member
Living rocks shoot out sperm and egg cells which is how they reproduce, they shoot out so many to ensure that the sperm and the eggs react to eachother, and eventually they turn into little babies, and then grow up to plant themselves firmly on the ground and become, well a rock.
This is incorrect on so many levels I don't know where to begin.
 
deejeff442

deejeff442

Active Member
too funny. live rock is like a figure of speech. man i really dont miss stupid here sometimes.if its on the internet it must be true. man so messed up
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Saltwater8 http:///t/218031/100s-of-eggs-coming-out-of-live-rock-help#post_1658912
Nope, this isn't ON the live rock...
These, whatever they are, came from a tiny hole in the live rock.
They look like tiny sand particles...
:help:


How long has this tank been up and running?

A couple of possibilities:
If the live rock has been sitting for a while, stuff clogs the nooks and crannies, and a power head blasting it will clear the rock when the debris can't hold on any longer...it would look like a little sand storm. We get the same result when we use a turkey baster to blast the rocks during water changes.

Another possibility is marine snow...it happens in nature, and I have had it happen in my reef when it was about 1 to 2 years old....the critters in the live rock would die off and new ones emerge, the waste was released into the tank, it actually looked like snow...corals love the stuff, the "snow" would happen every three to four months, then one day it just stopped and it never happened again. They sell "marine snow" believe me... it isn't the same, nor as nutritious as the natural occurring marine reef snow.
 
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