white hairy growths on live rock

[jeremy]

I was wondering if any body had seen these before.They are about the size of little round marble with holes in the tops of them. I got about 7 growing on one live rock.They are white and look fuzzy.In my tank i have 2 cleaner shrimp,1 emerald green crab,10 Blue legged hermits,2 turbo snails,2 yellow tangs,2percula clowns,2 tomato clowns and some damsels.and 2 florida common aneomes.

 

[gregzilla]

Yeah, I have those things two. What the heck are they?
-Gregzilla

 

[krazzydart]

they could be sponges comming!!!!!!

 

[jeremy]

They might be featerdusters to maybe.Calcium ones.

 

[tattooedlife]

Is it a actual bubble? Sounds like it could be bubble algea.

 

[gregzilla]

The ones in my tank are about the size of a pencil eraser or slightly larger (6-8mm). They are white and fuzzy and have a small hole (about 2-3mm) on the end.
They're not bubble algea, I have a few of those too.
-Gregzilla

 

[chuck]

I have those too, a bunch. I have never pinpointed in any book what these are. Mine tend to grow under rocks in a hanging position usually away from the light source. They are white and fuzzy with a littly fan like thing portruded from the hole on the end. They are about the size of a virginia slim cigarette(diameter), and a little less than an inch long. They tend to grow in colonies.

 

[kass]

They sound like their either a sponge or maybe a sea squirt. Sea squirts usually live in colonies. I've seen some in my tank too but never looked that close. I'll have to have another look.

 

[kmatysek]

We've got those, too. I describe them as the fuzzy end of a Q-tip, but with a pair of white, sharp-looking prongs on the 'top' (the end not attached to the rock). We've got a bunch growing on the sides of our sump tank as well as on rocks.
I haven't been patient enough to see if something hatches out of them. I'd like to know if they're a problem for reef tanks - if not to satisfy my curiosity.

 

[kmatysek]

Well, I'm curious enough that I followed up on the 'sea squirt' suggestion and looked up what I could find. These might be sea squirts, but I was unable to find a picture of one like these to confirm it (the pictures I did find were far more beautiful or bizarre than these cottony fuzzballs).
Sea Squirts, otherwise known as tunicates or urochordates, are in the same phylum has humans (chordata). Only the very young tunicates reveal their relationship to other chordates. The tadpolelike larva has a globular body and a tail used in swimming. When it attaches itself to the seafloor, however, it loses the tail, notochord, and dorsal nerve cord. The adult is covered with a protective covering called a tunic and feeds with its gill apparatus.
Kind of cool - it needs its 'brain' to find a home, then when it no longer needs it, it 'eats' it.