More UAO's

S

SEAF

New Member
More UAO's

I was looking at the back/dark side ("You don't know the power of the dark side!" :evil: ) of a piece of my live rock and noticed something growing there I had not seen before. Looks like little white trees and is very brittle. I bumped some of it when I was cleaning the algae off the glass to get a picture and it broke off quickly... very fragile. Sure hope this is not some nuisance growth that I just spread by breaking it off! It is not very big. That one in the middle is about a quarter inch wide. (UAO: unidentified attached object)


Anyone know what this is?
 
L

lilfishie

New Member
Re: More UAO's

I'm not sure what they are, but they look like they would be good for filtering the water. They dont look aggressive and since they tend to only be on the darkside, they will probably not be evasive. Check them with at flash light at night and see if there are any worms that come out of them. Thats my bet.
 
S

SEAF

New Member
Re: More UAO's

Thanks lilfishie. I just took another look with a flashlight and I think you are correct. I found quite a few more of them. If they are woms, they gotta be real tiny. At any rate, I don't think they will be invasive. They are all out of the direct light. They are strikingly white against all that brown rock.
 
L

lilfishie

New Member
Re: More UAO's

You'll be surprised at all of the different things that come alive over time. All the little critters that are running around on the rock and in the sand after the lights go out. Its a whole different world.
 
S

SEAF

New Member
Re: More UAO's

I am amazed at all the stuff I am finding at night. I looked at those little white trees and they don't appear to be worms. There are more of them than I thought. Even saw a couple of them that are pink. Lots of different sized little shrimp looking critters too. And.... hundreds and hundreds of starfish. At night the bigger ones come out. Some of them have quarter inch bodies and super long legs. They are everywhere at night... all over the glass, on all the live rock, and the sand. I even have a couple of them on a piece of coral I suspended two inches from the surface with fishing line so my frogspawn frag would be real close to the light. They must have been on there before I suspended it. Can't think of any other way they could get there.
This tank was established for several years before I got it. It's absolutely teeming with life. It's only a 20 gallon long, but I think theres enough life in there to support one of those Mandarin Gobies. I wonder if he would eat the Starfish. I had a couple of Blue Damsels in there for a while and I saw them eat some of the Starfish.
I think I'm addicted!!
 
L

lilfishie

New Member
Re: More UAO's

Those starfish you are describing sound like mini brittle stars but they don’t usually get out on the glass. They could be astarina stars. Look those two up and let us know if they are one of those. And the other critters are more than likely copepods. A mandarin may eat copepods, but not the starfish. The copepods can be a little too big for them too. I am going to see if I cant find out what those white things are. I have some similar looking things that are a deep red.
Mandarin gobies eat constantly. You might be able to get away with getting one and stocking the tank with reef pods. But the recommended tank size for mandarins is 30 gal or more.

If you have truly become addicted, you will end up getting a larger tank. Might as well do it now :D
 
L

lilfishie

New Member
Re: More UAO's

Consensus says that these are a type of sponge. If I find out anything different, I will let you know.
 
S

SEAF

New Member
Re: More UAO's

I looked up Brittle stars and Asterinas and have come to the conclusion that mine are Micro Brittle Stars.

The one in this photo is one of the larger ones and has a green body... most of them are white, like his legs. The legs on this starfish are white, but appear to be pinkish because of the red plate that was used for the photo. That's a one inch length of ruler under the pic.
 
S

Spyral

New Member
Re: More UAO's

I have tons of those mini brittle stars. When the lights go out, they are all over the place..but not on the glass.
 
S

SEAF

New Member
Re: More UAO's

It is usually the tiny ones that crawl on the glass and mostly on the ends where I don't scrape the algae often. In the dark I find them everywhere!
 
S

SEAF

New Member
Re: More UAO's

I did some research and found out what my "white trees" might be: Foraminiferans
From the description and pictures I found, I may have my answer. In any case, I think they are growing well in my tank.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top