Eggs?! Help!

[Caybrook]

My reef tank has only been set up for just over a week. I put in 32 pounds of live rock and added blue leg and zebra hermits and turbo snails. An urchin came hidden in the live rock as well. Tonight I noticed these egg type things on a pice of live rock that were not here, or at least not this visible yesterday.

Seems like everyday something new shows up! I haven't been able to come up with an ID on these though. Any ideas?!

 

[Caybrook]

I should add that I've checked the levels every day and everything has been where it should be.

 

[bribo12]

That looks like a sponge. Harmless

 

[mr_X]

Yes, a sponge, and also, you should not have added any livestock to the tank until it is cycled. this usually takes more than a week. How did you cycle the tank?

 

[Caybrook]

I bought something called colony? Which the lfs told me to add when I set the tank up and added the live rock. I also bought aragonite substrate ( there is roughly three inches on the bottom). Lfs told me as long as my nitrates had spiked and gone back to zero I was fine to add crabs and snails.

 

[mr_X]

Substrate isn't going to effect a cycle. The live rock will have die off and that die off will have to rot away. So, right now you have zero ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?
You would have had to see ammonia in the beginning in order for the cycle to be complete.

 

[Caybrook]

Yes. There was a spike a day after the initial set up.

 

[mr_X]

So, this product you referred to as "colony", is bottled bacteria?

 

[Caybrook]

Yes. You are correct. Made by ATM I believe.

 

[mr_X]

Ok then. This may have accelerated the cycle. I guess we'll see when you add a fish.