whats up with my zoanthids?

[TheFish83]

hi this was the first frag i put in this tank which is about 5 months old the first 10 days they were not opening up all the way. after doing some reading i realized that i had my lights to high so i lowered them in the tank and lowered my leds to 40% blue and 30% white. they have looked great for the last few weeks but i just noticed this white stuff in between the polyps. this pic is after th lights turned off cause in the day time the polyps cover it up. any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[TheFish83]

oh water parameters are
tmp-79
cal-400
phosphate-0+ hard to see color
nitrate-0
PH-8.2

[Danny_15]

Looks like a tip on the frag plug if its hard or like a dead zoa

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[patiof]

does the white stuff have a hole in it?

if so, you have a sponge growing on the plug and nothing to really worry about.

[TheFish83]

Yes it has a hole in the center of it and looks kind of like a little volcano, if it is a sponge is there anything to worry about in the future will grow too big it seems to be getting bigger. I will try to put a better pic up . Thanks for the info

[patiof]

have sponge and zoas going in harmony know for a while, but not long term.

others have reported that it seems about 50/50 with some reporting zoas overtake the sponge vs. sponge overtaking the zoas - when there is a clear victor.

i'm thinking the majority of the time they get along together just fine.

[TheFish83]

Thanks alot I was kinda freaking out. If it does become an issue is there a way to get rid of them

[patiof]

i saw mixed reviews on getting rid of them as well. from picking out sponge to freshwater dip etc. some folks seem to kill their zoas in the process.

[jayball]

Just take the plug out and pluck the sponge off with tweezers. A little air does not hurt Zoa's, some of them can be exposed during very low tides. Encrusting sponges can overtake some coral but that looks like a pineapple sponge.