What in the world is this?

[noirsphynx]

When I peared in to my nano this morning I noticed this thing. I have no clue what it is and I don't think it was there yesterday. It's a hard and stuck to the back wall.

[andestang]

Looks like a Chiton, which are harmless.

[justinl]

maybe some kind of bubble snail? Does it move? when you say hard, do you mean it has a shell or that it is rigid?

[noirsphynx]

maybe some kind of bubble snail? Does it move? when you say hard, do you mean it has a shell or that it is rigid?

It's rigid and stuck, does not move.

[justinl]

might be a sponge then.

[noirsphynx]

might be a sponge then.

I don't see any openings. Don't all sponges have some sort of openings for feeding?

[dsaundry]

It looks like a chitton but they are usually in the sand and not on the glass. If it doesnt move at all I would think it could be a sponge of some type..if nobody here can identify it...razor blade it off and throw it out..

It could be the fish version of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers":lol:

[justinl]

No many demospongia do not have any large obvious oscula (big holes). All sponges however have small pores called ostia... not always visible to the naked eye.

I don't think it's a chiton... it hasn't moved any and I don't see any of the shell plates. for the record chitons can be anywhere in the tank but usually graze on rocks.

you can scrape it off, but ten bucks says there's others in the tank you just haven't found yet.

[noirsphynx]

I don't think it's a chiton... it hasn't moved any and I don't see any of the shell plates. for the record chitons can be anywhere in the tank but usually graze on rocks.

you can scrape it off, but ten bucks says there's others in the tank you just haven't found yet.


I don't think it's a chitton either. It's still in the same place. I found it odd that it would show up overnight that large, I know it wasn't there yesterday. I do a daily tank check to see if there's anything out of the ordinary. It's probably 1/2" long or so. I may scrape it off but I'm so curious to see if anything further happens with it but then again what if something does happen(maybe something growing in there?) and it's a bad thing, lol.

[justinl]

ahh well, such is the nature of the hobby. it's really your choice since so far no one knows what the hell it is. Personally I think a lot of people overestimate hitchhikers and kill a lot of harmless - even beneficial - organisms. I would just let it live and keep an eye on it, and for others like it.

as for not seeing it until today, I don't mean to suggest you don't pay attention to your tank, but things can pop up like that without you noticing; especially if your tank is large. Almost every time I look into my tank I notice something new. Just because you didn't see it until today, doesn't mean it wasn't there yesterday. again, one more beautiful characteristic of the hobby.

[noirsphynx]

I think out of curiosity's sake I'm going to leave it for now and see what becomes of it.

It's in my 24g Nano(that includes the back sump area) so it's a small tank annnnnd I had just finished scraping the back of the tank(that's where it is) 2nights prior with a blade so I definitely know it wasn't there(and it's out in the open). It's so weird how things can just appear in our tanks like that.

I can defintely say I'm loving salty tanks more than freshwater. They're so much more interesting.

[noirsphynx]

It's alive, lol! After having the lights out for an hour or two I peaked and what do you know, it had come to life. Here it is right before I flicked the lights back on(he disappered again when I did that). So now does anyone have a clue?

[dsaundry]

some kind of nudibrank or seahare???????

[noirsphynx]

Nudi's are soft this guy is rough textured. It honestly looks just like a piece of live rock, kinda feels that way too. I would have never known it was there if it had of remained on the rocks. From what I'm seeing on the net the only thing I can find somewhat similar looking is a cucumber but I think they're round and stay on the substrate......right? Maybe it is a sea hare?

[justinl]

oh okay, no doubt, that's a filter feeding sea cucumber. They're basically like any other cucumber except for the fact that they filter feed. Because of that, they don't really care where they sit, sand rock or glass.

Many cukes are toxic so be wary. There is a yellow variant of what you have, same size, that is toxic and may or may not harm a 24g if it dies; they tend to find pumps or just die because they're unhappy. However, i do not know about yours. is it even tinged yellow?

[ElGuappo]

agreed its a cucumber. i had a red onelike this in my 34 g died and it hurt nothing. it liked the light though and was alway on the glass in mid to high flow areas. so its behavior is not like the cuc i had. the end flowers when it open. looks like a fine leafed flower opening. if this is the case, cyclopeese are a good food.

[noirsphynx]

Nope not even the slightest tinge of yellow, he's a mottled stone grey color.

Thanks everyone for their help, it's appreciated :biggrin:

Also, this morning during my morning tank check I found 4 teeny tiny snails, too small to probably even take a pic of. I took them out just to be safe so now I need to try and find out what they are. Annnnnnnnd my nassarius snails keep laying eggs all over the glass, lol. Salty tanks are definitely NOT boring =)


oh okay, no doubt, that's a filter feeding sea cucumber. They're basically like any other cucumber except for the fact that they filter feed. Because of that, they don't really care where they sit, sand rock or glass.

Many cukes are toxic so be wary. There is a yellow variant of what you have, same size, that is toxic and may or may not harm a 24g if it dies; they tend to find pumps or just die because they're unhappy. However, i do not know about yours. is it even tinged yellow?

[noirsphynx]

[QUOTE=noirsphynx;347683]Also, this morning during my morning tank check I found 4 teeny tiny snails, too small to probably even take a pic of. I took them out just to be safe so now I need to try and find out what they are.QUOTE]

Well that wasn't hard, lol. Found out that they're collonista snails. At least all my hitchhikers have been good things so far :smile:

[justinl]

drab cukes are generally safe. Bright ones are usually bright to warn predators of their toxicity, while the drab ones usually rely more on camouflage. just a rule of thumb though.

If you like your cuke (I do) you should think about covering pump intakes and grates with sponge or filter pad or something. wouldnt want it getting sashimi-ed.