Help!!! What's growing on my new Live Rock???

sheracr123

sheracr123

Member
I just put in a new piece of LR on Sat. A really great piece of fiji. It even has some purple polyps (What are these??) that are blooming into white, green and orange mini flower looking things. But today when I got home from work, there are several areas that look like they are covered in spider nests!!! Really thick white and fluffy looking. And kinda stringy too. I have nothing in the tank except the live rock. I am running a H.O.T. magnun pro and a bak pak skimmer. I also have a powerhead in there for water movement.
Is this white stuff good or bad???
THANKS!!!
 
k.lee

k.lee

Member
Hmm, I have no idea what the "white stuff" is. Is it attached to the rock, or free floating?
 
sheracr123

sheracr123

Member
<a href="http://photos.yahoo.com/sheracr123" target="_blank">web page</a>
I haven't quite got the hang of these photos, but a pic of the rock is there. It's kinda blurry, but you can get the general idea.
And it's kinda stringy.
 
msb27

msb27

Member
Im new at this, but my buddy was talking the other day about this in his tank. Is in the water or just on the rocks. He had these spider web things in his water that were attached to his rocks. He said that they were aptasia anemonies. I think he said they put out this webs to catch stuff in the water to feed on. Don't know if this what you have, but thought I would offer it anyway.
Scott
 
brian'sreef

brian'sreef

Member
my best bet would be that they are cone jellies.. it's a small invert that uses long tentacles to catch plankton out of the water ..to boot they are completely harmless.. doubtfully aptasia.. aptasia has a distinctive anemone shape...hope this helps
 
fshhub

fshhub

Active Member
spider nests, or webs??
i have a hard time viewing the pic, but i dont' think they are aiptasia either
there are severla things that make web like structures in the aquarium
but if hey are more like sac of spider eggs, kinda small and cone shaped, somewhat resembling a q tip(but more coned shape, and with a hollow tube like center), then i would have to guess a q tip sponge, if so they are harmless and a good sign
if htey don't fit that description, then maybe some more detail will help
 
T

therock0861

Guest
I had a couple on the LR I ordered from here. After awhile I wanted to see what they were so they wouldn't cause any damage. I broke one of them open and all that was inside was some kind of waste or something. It was like mold. I just cleaned it up and threw it away no harm done.
 
bigeyedfish

bigeyedfish

Member
I think i have the same thing as well. It looks kind of like mini SPS coral. Although its not cause my lights wouldnt support it. I believe ijji also asked this a while back. Its definitely not aiptasia, looks like a white tree with webbing between the branches.
 
chainsaw5vent

chainsaw5vent

Member
hmmmm. when i purchased my l/r from an established tank, i was told that the white fluffy stuff was sponge. hasn't caused any problems for my tank, though.
 
jakob4001

jakob4001

Member
saltyjay, I used to think those were corals too, that & the red ones that you will notice look kind of like it too...those are ameobas & supposedly have limited relocation movement too...it does not sound like they are q tip spnges but w/o a more detailed less blury picture hard to telll...you could do a search for Q TIP sponges..should pull up a great pic of them...if it's more like a spider NEST, I think someone posted a link stating iether type of snail or worm
 
von_rahvin

von_rahvin

Member
your stringy thins could be catcher worms. i could not see well enough on the pick. there are several different species of catcher worms. i have a couple in my tank. but . . . try to get a better pick of the stuff
 
sheracr123

sheracr123

Member
I didnt see anything on that site that looked like whats on my rock. I will try to get a better pic tonight. It looks exactly like what a spider nest in a wood pile looks like. But it gets kinda stringy, and does look slimey too.
Thanks for all the info everyone!!!
 
beachbaby

beachbaby

Member
Does it look like a puffy cloud on the rock or maybe a thinned out marshmellow? I have this on some new live rock. I had it curing for several days and then it just suddenly appeared. I have no idea what it is. I was waiting to see if it would hatch or something before I put it in the main tank. Surely one of you sharks must know :p
 
sheracr123

sheracr123

Member
Well... looks like no diffrent pics. Guess my camera just sucks!! Anyway, when I went to move the rock to try to get a different angle, I dropped it in the tank. When I did, most of the stuff came off. But what was under the "nest" is soft, and kinda looks like a lichen or something. I think it's some kind of mold or something. Since I don't have anything in the tank yet, I guess I'm just gonna watch my levels and hope for the best. My skimmer and my filter have already pulled out most of the stringy stuff that was floating around in the tank. (The stringy stuff was kinda milky).
Thanks for all the input and if you have any other ideas, let me know.
Oh yeah, this was "uncured" live rock. My LFS had just got it in the same day I got it.
 
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