anyone have any idea what this is?

[julian]

3 days ago I purchased 40 lbs. of live rock from a shop out of town. I found this on the bottom of one of the rocks. Can someone help identify it? To give you a idea of its size, its not quite as large as a orange or apple.
Thanks for your help.
Julian

 

[melosu58]

Maybe some type of sponge. Is it soft?

 

[julian]

Yes it is soft, and the white skin seems to be very loose. Since I put it in the tank, it has doubled in size in 2 days.

 

[julian]

I dont know if this helps, but the rock originated off the Florida coast, west side I believe.

 

[Sadielynn]

Looks like an orange ball sponge or perhaps a tunicate .. is there any chance of a bit better pic ?
Sponges are neat hitchikers , and will come and go with nutrients great lil filter feeder ... I have them in blues , purples and yellows in my tank ...

 

[julian]

mystery solved, It is a sponge, late last night, over a period of 15 minutes, I witnessed it busting out if the orange shell. I now have a yellow sponge floating around in my tank. today I removed the remaining orange and white shell, and did a 30% water change. the shell smelt very bad. after doing my chemical test, all is normal with the exception of the ph, just a little low. will give it a week and test once again. still waiting for the right time for some fish, but trying to be patient.

 

[Aquarium1]

mind sharing some updated pics of it out of its shell?