strange sponge coral in my tank......HELP

[fishinchick]

So in the middle of a divorce, a friend offers me her salt tank. Neither side wants it. Poor tank. Anyway, inside this reef tank is a sort of sponge coral that I have never seen before. I have looked at several resource pages and could not find anything that looked like it. When I asked her of its origin she claimed that she saw it growing on the side of the dock on the gangway that they kept their boat on (?!) in Long Beach, California. (is this wierd or what).
Anyway, the little critter looks like tube like fingers, or columns, very skinny, with holes at the end, they are not very big, maybe 2 inches at the longest. It is a pretty shade or lavender, coral pink, and hues of flesh color. A few branch, it is clearly spongy and doing okay. I want to know what it is before I decide to let it stay or return it to the bay! I have a hand drawn pic (very rough) if you are up to a challenge, email me!!
I asked her what posessed her to take this poor beast without knowing what it is and she didnt have an answer. I hope its not some awful parasite!!

crude drawing
[ July 24, 2001: Message edited by: fishinchick ]

 

[tmncali]

hello and welcome,
I'm gonna be getting my coral book(s) tommorrow. if you can email a pic or the drawing to me i would try and identify for you. no guarentees though. the drawing didnt show up in the post for me.
Tony
[ July 24, 2001: Message edited by: tmncali ]

 

[fishinchick]

sorry, got it attached now I think, if not reply to my email address as I am new and cant seem to figure that out yet (water on the brain I think). If you email me I will be more than happy to send you the image.
Thanks a ton!!

 

[tmncali]

well that didnt work.... but i was able to use the url in another browser to look at it. you dont happen to have a digital cam for a pic? or a scanner that you could use with a regular camera and film? if not im still gonna try to see what i can find.
Thanks for the challenge..
Good luck on your new tank..
Thanks
Tony

 

[fishinchick]

No, sorry, I dont have a digital camera, I am a graphic designer, I just usually draw stuff. lol.
I am not much of a shutter bug. Doesnt taking flash shots of your aquariums piss off your anenomies and fish? I always cover my tanks in a lightning storm to keep them from being scared by the lightning.

 

[saltlord]

sounds like you have a sea whip , also called a sea rod. They are not harmful and are commonly found in shops. they require some food as they are not dependent on photosynthis. But thats just my two cents , i could be totaly wrong.

 

[fishinchick]

no they are not - spiky i looked up the pic. They are smooth fingery tubes with holes in the center of them, pinkish purple in color. These were growing on the float part that holds up the gangway, she simply leaned over the edge and plucked him out of the water. She says sometimes her choclate chip star will go eat a hunk out of it and it always grows back........
I hope all my rambling discriptions are helping. I would really like to know about this thing

 

[sbustobante]

fishinchick, first off, I've got no idea what these things are.
Since you live in SoCal - assuming LBC area, you should go check out the Cabrillo Aquarium in San Pedro. They have awesome tanks with Cali native species.
I don't know if you will get a good response off this board, because mostly people are dealing with warm water species. If it came from Cali, it's from colder water and not commonly seen in aquariums. Anyway, the guys at Cabrillo probably will know what it is and can give you an idea of care.