Anyone know what species these are?

[Fiji Live Rock]

I am clueless and can't find them anywhere in Aquatic information catalogs. :?

http://www.clanimp.com/4sale/DSC00251.JPG

Also what species are these? And what are they also? (It is the things in the center that have red trunks and white "hair-like" tenticles out of the top.)

http://www.clanimp.com/4sale/DSC00255.JPG

[phistio]

funny you ask...i've noticed them as well...

check out this thread:

http://www.reeflounge.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=990

[Fiji Live Rock]

Yea, I find them everywhere basicly.

They are in my skimmer basket, in the overflow tube, in the overflow box, in the sump and on my LR. (The white ones that is.) :shock:

The red ones...there are only a few of them on the LR. Not sure what either species is. :?

[Pineapple House]

I remember coming across a name for the last species there. If it makes you feel better, I have tons of them all over my rocks. They're harmless, and i'm pretty sure they are filter feeders. I'll try to see if I can find something on them :)

PH =)

[Pineapple House]

Here are some of my largest ones in the tank. Please note this is actuall size! These are the only ones the size of a silver dollar. Some are quite beautiful.

PH =)

[Fiji Live Rock]

I know they are harmless...I just wanted to know what they were.

I can't seem to find anyone that knows. :? :(

[steve1s]

The ones in the second pic are refered to as foraminiferans

Here's a link.....

http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/pages/main_pages/faq_rock3.htm

Cheers
Steve

[Fiji Live Rock]

As for the red things...they don't look like the "foraminiferans" in the picture through the link you provided. :? :(


But...the white things everyone has been questioning I believe are these. :)

http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/img/faq_sponge.jpg

All over my tank, sump, and overflows I see what look like grains of white rice. They also seen to have a small tube like extension on one end.
You may have a small species of sponge, probably Leucilla,Leucandra, Scypha = Sycon, or Clathrina. These small sponges are often missed in nature due to their small size, but they are usually seen in our small glass boxes. They are taxonomically found in Class: Calcarea. More information on sponges in general is in Rob's Aquarium.net article http://www.aquarium.net/1196/1196_7.shtml

[blasternick82]

how do you get rid of these sponges?

[pnut]

http://www.reeflounge.net/sigs/rlwelcome.gif

You can manually pull them off the rocks if you wanted to. IMO, I would just leave them alone.

[kiknchikn]

I like them myself. I've been trying to get a decent picture of one in my tank so I can add it to the critter section of my page. The more reef-safe biodiversity the better!

On a side note, I'm glad you brought this thread back up from the depths, blasternick. That hitchhiker (http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/pages/main_pages/faq_rock3.htm) guide helped me identify my vermetid gastropod that has been baffling me for a week now:

http://www.mikesreef.com/images/critters/Hitchhiker13.jpg

[blasternick82]

Are they benificial? They look like some kind of parasite. If you look close they have very tiny, thin spines on them. They alomst look parasidic. I got them from a friends tank, He gave me a piece of rock and I forgot he had them all over his tank. now they are covering my sump area. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Nick

[kiknchikn]

They're just a small species of sponge. Completely harmless and beneficial filter feeders I believe. You can just pluck them out of your tank if you really want to and if don't mind murdering harmless sponges ;)

[blasternick82]

No, I dont want to kill them. They just looked dangerous. My tangs have been eating them and spitting them out when they fall off of the glass in my sump and get pumped into the tank. I dodnt know if they were gonna harm my livestock. You have been very helpfull and informative. I have one more question for you. I have a mantis! He has been with me for 3 years now. I have never seen him, I just hear him at night and some times in the afternoon. I have tried the bottle method and x-terminator. Nothing works. I have a 60 hex with 150-175lbs of rock. The rock is buils like a cone in the middle of the tank. I believe he is in the center of the cone. That is were the snaping comes from. I have lost about 2 dozen crabs,2 scarlet shrimp, 4 conchs, and about 15 bumble bee and turbo snails also lost a clam. what kind of methods do you know? I dont want to kill him just get him into a species only tank. Any advice will help. Thanks!

[blasternick82]

Also good luck with the newly identified gastropod. That hitch hiker guide helped me out with some other sponge identification.

[kiknchikn]

Wow, three years and you still haven't gotten him out. Clever Stomatopod I guess. I've never had that problem before, so I don't know how much help I can be.

It sounds like Your only option might be to keep trying to soda-bottle method until it yworks.... unless you feel like tearing the tank apart trying to find him. Are you positive you're doing the soda-bottle method right? You could try looking to see if there are variations to it that might work better.

But maybe there's another way. Try some of these sites:

http://www.blueboard.com/mantis/pest/catch.htm

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/mantiscompfaqs.htm

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=816103&referrerid=112003

Good luck catching the little bugger!

[kiknchikn]

That vermetid snail/gastropod has already doubled in size in the last 4 days. Very neat creature. He made his home right next to the hole where my peanut worm lives. I wonder if he unwillingly shares his plankton filled mucus net with him when night comes. I wish my tank was at home some times so I could see what goes on at night (I'm definitely not staying at work that late) =P