Unidentified fuzzy sacks on my star polyps

The sponge you have growing with your star polyps could
smother your star polyps, so keep an eye on it.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Don Geddis wrote on 8/12/2006 11:06 AM:
Bryan wrote on 8/11/2006 2:06 PM:
These things only grow on my star polyps. I can't figure out what they
are. Sometimes there's a few and sometimes there are several. I seem to
have a lot of them now. When the polyps are open these things are totally
hidden. The star polyps seem very healthy. All water tests are perfect.
Each on has an opening at the top. I never see anything go in and out so
it must be for nutrition...
http://www.geocities.com/bryg30/Unkn...tarPolyps.html

Wayne Sallee wrote on Fri, 11 Aug 2006:
Those are sponges.

I've got some white sponges growing on my star polyps also:
http://reef.geddis.org/a/Star%20Polyps/p/dsc05558.jpg
A little different species than yours (more of a mat with tubes, rather
than balls), but probably similar.

My white sponges only grow in the dark; they avoid anywhere the MH lights
touch. My guess is that it's a bit symbiotic (or maybe parasitic) with the
star polyps. Namely, at night the star polyps retreat, so the sponges can
feed. But during the day the star polyps come out, making a light "umbrella"
for the sponges to protect (?) them from the light.

My white sponge grows fine on the dark underside of my live rocks by itself,
but the only times I see it out in the light is inside a mat of star polyps.

-- Don
__________________________________________________ _____________________________
Don Geddis http://reef.geddis.org/
If your friend is already dead, and being eaten by vultures, I think it's okay
to feed some bits of your friend to one of the vultures, to teach him to do
some tricks. But ONLY if you're serious about adopting the vulture.
-- Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handey

Wayne Sallee wrote on Sat, 12 Aug 2006:
The sponge you have growing with your star polyps could smother your star
polyps, so keep an eye on it.

Yeah, I agree. But star polyps grow so fast, and frag so easily, that I've
got little patches of them all over the place in my tank. Moreover, the star
polyps grow off into the light, and the white sponge clearly prefers dark
locations, so it doesn't grow too fast heading off into the light.

Thus: I don't think it's a real danger, but you're right that it could be
in theory.

-- Don
__________________________________________________ _____________________________
Don Geddis http://reef.geddis.org/
I guess I wouldn't mind if aliens from outer space came and visited our planet.
But please, no children. -- Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handey [1999]

Don, the sponges you have could smother your polyps, not
in theory, but in reality. I had it happen to a customer.
But don't over react, just keep an eye on it. Your's may
not be a problem.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Don Geddis wrote on 8/14/2006 1:28 PM:
Wayne Sallee wrote on Sat, 12 Aug 2006:
The sponge you have growing with your star polyps could smother your star
polyps, so keep an eye on it.

Yeah, I agree. But star polyps grow so fast, and frag so easily, that I've
got little patches of them all over the place in my tank. Moreover, the star
polyps grow off into the light, and the white sponge clearly prefers dark
locations, so it doesn't grow too fast heading off into the light.

Thus: I don't think it's a real danger, but you're right that it could be
in theory.

-- Don
__________________________________________________ _____________________________
Don Geddis http://reef.geddis.org/
I guess I wouldn't mind if aliens from outer space came and visited our planet.
But please, no children. -- Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handey [1999]