Reef Central Online Community

Go Back   Reef Central Online Community > Invert and Plant Forums > Other Invertebrates
Blogs FAQ Calendar Mark Forums Read

Notices

User Tag List

Reply
Thread Tools
Unread 11/21/2017, 07:02 PM   #1
m3ch
Registered Member
 
m3ch's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Posts: 47
Strange brown tangled mass

Can anyone ID what this brown, spaghetti-esque mass is growing on my rock? It is about 3-4 inches across and almost looks like a mass of feather duster tubes or something but has a texture more akin to a sponge of some sort.




m3ch is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/21/2017, 07:04 PM   #2
Maggie321
Registered Member
 
Maggie321's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 187
That's crazy looking. I don't know but following along

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk


Maggie321 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/21/2017, 07:08 PM   #3
m3ch
Registered Member
 
m3ch's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Posts: 47
Upon further research based on the livestock I have in my tank I believe this may be a mass of Sea Hare eggs.


m3ch is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/21/2017, 07:11 PM   #4
Maggie321
Registered Member
 
Maggie321's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 187
That's pretty cool...

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk


Maggie321 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/21/2017, 07:12 PM   #5
m3ch
Registered Member
 
m3ch's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Posts: 47
Also interesting and noteworthy for those reading I dosed my tank with a small amount of H2O2 the past few days <1ml per 10 gallons. I have seen some research that has shown additions of hydrogen peroxide into seawater causes spawning responses in some mollusks.


m3ch is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/21/2017, 07:42 PM   #6
Pslreefer
In Memoriam
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Port St Lucie, FL
Posts: 597
Good call on the eggs , as that is indeed what they are. Now from what I do not know but have seen eggs laid out like that before.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Pslreefer is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 12/06/2017, 07:00 PM   #7
Michael Hoaster
Registered Seaweedist
 
Michael Hoaster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Boulder, CO
Posts: 5,807
Ooh, that's scary looking! If it is sea hare eggs, now is the time to decide if you want thousands of them in your tank, and take appropriate action.

I am in the process of removing hundreds of them from my tank. Kinda tedious! I wish I had removed them at the egg stage. In my opinion, one is cool, thousands, not cool.


__________________
As many naturalists and environmentalists have suggested, we should set aside our arrogance,
our desire to conquer and control everything, and walk hand in hand with Mother Nature. -Walter Adey

Current Tank Info: 180g Seagrass Sandbar Lagoon, START DATE November 28, 2018
Michael Hoaster is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 12/06/2017, 07:50 PM   #8
mikenh77
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 61
Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster View Post
Ooh, that's scary looking! If it is sea hare eggs, now is the time to decide if you want thousands of them in your tank, and take appropriate action.

I am in the process of removing hundreds of them from my tank. Kinda tedious! I wish I had removed them at the egg stage. In my opinion, one is cool, thousands, not cool.
Why would you not want them?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


mikenh77 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 12/06/2017, 10:31 PM   #9
Michael Hoaster
Registered Seaweedist
 
Michael Hoaster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Boulder, CO
Posts: 5,807
I guess it depends on the kind of sea hare and the kind of tank you have. For example, my tank is a macro algae and seagrass tank. The sea hares I have eat macros. They have almost wiped out one species of caulerpa that I'd prefer to keep. That's why I do not want them.

I suppose if you had a micro algae problem and your sea hares ate micro algae, you would want them. But what happens when thousands of sea hares run out of food?

I love natural solutions. But that is a huge egg mass. Thousands of anything bigger than pods is a bit much in the confines of an aquarium.

I'm not a sea hare expert, so I may be overlooking something. Why WOULD you want them?


__________________
As many naturalists and environmentalists have suggested, we should set aside our arrogance,
our desire to conquer and control everything, and walk hand in hand with Mother Nature. -Walter Adey

Current Tank Info: 180g Seagrass Sandbar Lagoon, START DATE November 28, 2018
Michael Hoaster is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 12/06/2017, 11:27 PM   #10
mikenh77
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 61
Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster View Post
I guess it depends on the kind of sea hare and the kind of tank you have. For example, my tank is a macro algae and seagrass tank. The sea hares I have eat macros. They have almost wiped out one species of caulerpa that I'd prefer to keep. That's why I do not want them.

I suppose if you had a micro algae problem and your sea hares ate micro algae, you would want them. But what happens when thousands of sea hares run out of food?

I love natural solutions. But that is a huge egg mass. Thousands of anything bigger than pods is a bit much in the confines of an aquarium.

I'm not a sea hare expert, so I may be overlooking something. Why WOULD you want them?
Ah I see. Well I have the opposite problem lol. My tank is basically an unplanned refugium. My tank was spotless a few years ago and I had a bad crash while out of town and everything died. I kept the rock and sand. Had a bad cyano problem for a year. Got rid of it... And now have a bad hair/turf algae/halmaeda problem. This is the first I've heard of sea hares reproducing in a tank and I think I would love to have that happen.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


mikenh77 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 12/07/2017, 12:49 AM   #11
jaking
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Florence, AL
Posts: 50
That's pretty interesting and freaky looking....


jaking is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 12/07/2017, 01:50 PM   #12
Michael Hoaster
Registered Seaweedist
 
Michael Hoaster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Boulder, CO
Posts: 5,807
Thanks, mikenh77. Now I see your side of it. At least you can grow halimeda. I've had no luck with it.

I thought it was cool too, when sea hares reproduced in my tank, until I realized they were wiping out my caulerpa racemosa. It's kinda like the bristle worm thing. They're great detrivores but when their population explodes and your tank is literally crawling with them, it's just a bit too much.

I'm curious, m3ch, have you decided what to do with your giant egg mass?


__________________
As many naturalists and environmentalists have suggested, we should set aside our arrogance,
our desire to conquer and control everything, and walk hand in hand with Mother Nature. -Walter Adey

Current Tank Info: 180g Seagrass Sandbar Lagoon, START DATE November 28, 2018
Michael Hoaster is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 12/08/2017, 07:56 AM   #13
m3ch
Registered Member
 
m3ch's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Posts: 47
Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster View Post
Thanks, mikenh77. Now I see your side of it. At least you can grow halimeda. I've had no luck with it.

I thought it was cool too, when sea hares reproduced in my tank, until I realized they were wiping out my caulerpa racemosa. It's kinda like the bristle worm thing. They're great detrivores but when their population explodes and your tank is literally crawling with them, it's just a bit too much.

I'm curious, m3ch, have you decided what to do with your giant egg mass?
So far I have left it be to see what happens. I don't have any valuable macros that I am worried about them eating if they do happen to hatch. While I can definitely see the downsides of having that many tiny beings hatching in my tank I think part of what makes this hobby interesting is getting a chance to observe an ecosystem in a box. Will update this thread if anything happens but thus far they haven't changed.


m3ch is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:21 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2024 Axivo Inc.
Use of this web site is subject to the terms and conditions described in the user agreement.
Reef CentralTM Reef Central, LLC. Copyright ©1999-2022
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.