little white sponges

[whitetiprs]

I've got all of these little white sponge looking things growing in my sump. they are about the size of a tic-tac with a "crown" on top of them. Are these guys bad? recently when i do water changes and shut off the pump then restart I get all these white flecks in my display could it be from them?

 

[MYTY1705]

I had a lot of these in my tank for about 2-3 months. Got them right after purchasing some rock from LFS. They are q-tip sponges and are harmless to the tank. I would not worry about them. They are filter feeders.

The flecks could be built up calcium in the pump being broke apart and sent into the water. Just my guess on that though