Odd Spiderweb Growth

[JHBell]

Searched the forums here for almost 3 hours and could not find anything remotely close to what I have. So I decided to join and ask.

My setup is an old 10 gal tank that a friend gave me, I bought an Aqua Clear 20 for it, using an Eclipse F15T8 bulb in a hood.

I purchased 3 peices of live rock from a local pet store and a 5lb bag of sand. The Hermit Crabs (x2) Fiddler Crabs (x2) Shrimp (x2) Pigfish (x1) were all caught at the boat launch behind my house. I also added 5 lbs of sand from the same location. The shells and wierd looking kelp thing are from there too. (Identification of the plantlike thing would be nice) I've had the aquarium running about 2 weeks and having good results so far. IE No Animals have died.

I'm feeding them 20 Top Fin soft sinking pellets with krill a day, and some days they eat them all, some they dont. I'm running the light for 8 hrs a day and have it set on a timer to run from 10am to 6pm then shut off.

Onward to the growths.

Here is the best picture I could get of it. ITs much worse, but my camera is flakey. It is mainly on the sand bed and inside one shell, it does not appear to be affecting my live rocks.

Tried to get a picture of whats in the shell, Mr. Pigfish decided to take a photo oppertunity..

Here is a better photo of Mr. Pigfish. He changes color, I think its funny.

Here is the unknown Plant Like Entity.

And Finally. An overshot of the whole setup.

Any questions will be answered promptly to the best of my knowlage, and any advice will be heeded. Comments are welcome too!

 

[JHBell]

Additional Information....I used my dip net to scoop some out and it is very slimy to the touch, also has a slight odor to it.

 

[austinsdad]

Have you done any water tests? Ammonia nitrite, stuff like that? Something smelling bad isn't a good sign and not knowing what the water readings are us worse after you added new things especially.

 

[JHBell]

Had a friend (that gave me the tank) and all the levels are okay. He has been doing aquariums for 20 years and says he has never seen this crap before.

 

[thincat]

That looks like it's a "Tubeworm", center of picture. These worms throw out a mucus net and catches particles in the water colume then pulls it back in to feed.

 

[JHBell]

That looks like it's a "Tubeworm", center of picture. These worms throw out a mucus net and catches particles in the water colume then pulls it back in to feed.

Well its nasty looking. How do I get rid of them?

 

[thincat]

How old is your tank? did you cycle it?

 

[austinsdad]

Tube worms are good janitors. Guessing you'll have to get rid of the rock if you want them gone.

 

[JHBell]

How old is your tank? did you cycle it?

Ran it for 4 weeks with just rocks, sand, water, and plants in it. added the animals two weeks ago.

 

[austinsdad]

You really do need to test the water.

 

[JHBell]

You really do need to test the water.

I dont have the equipment to test the water, but it was done in the past coupe of days and the guy that did it said it was fine!

 

[austinsdad]

OK, but a nitrite and ammonia test kit 1) doesn't cost that much, and 2) no succesful aquarium owner would be stuck without knowing what the readings are without having to rely on someone else. Things can change a lot in 2 days, belive me.

 

[HN1]

I have to agree, test kits are a necessity. What about salinity and top offs? Without the basics, you're playing roulette.

I can't really tell anything from the picture. Manual removal and observation will at least tell you a few things about it. Does it changes location? Does it appear at once or seem to grow? etc.

 

[JHBell]

I have to agree, test kits are a necessity. What about salinity and top offs? Without the basics, you're playing roulette.

I can't really tell anything from the picture. Manual removal and observation will at least tell you a few things about it. Does it changes location? Does it appear at once or seem to grow? etc.

I have a line marked on my tank for topoffs and a hydrometer for salinity testing.

 

[HN1]

I have a line marked on my tank for topoffs and a hydrometer for salinity testing.

Cool. No offense intended, but that's better than I expected. Sorry if we may seem a bit zealous, but most of us have made the mistakes that we advise against now. I really believe that understanding your water through testing is a really important foundation towards successful aquaria husbandry.

 

[SAAVE853]

Honestly from looking at the pic of your tank you need to do 2 things immediately..

1. Test water
2. PWC (Partial Water Change)

 

[thincat]

Well its nasty looking. How do I get rid of them?

You can superglue the tubes and that will kill the tubeworm. Really they help to keep the water clean though.

 

[JHBell]

Honestly from looking at the pic of your tank you need to do 2 things immediately..

1. Test water
2. PWC (Partial Water Change)

Why do you suggest those two things based on what my tank looks like? It would be helpful for me to know what to look for.

(I do a 10% change every sunday. Half of that is Natural sea water, half is salt mix.)

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I'm not the person that made the original suggestion, but I thought the same thing when I saw the pictures. The water looks really cloudy which could either be from a bacteria bloom (normally seen during cycling), or murky water to start with. If you're using sea water from the ocean, then that could be where the murkiness is coming from.

As far as the stuff on the sand, I haven't a clue. "White spiderweb-like things" normally lead me to think sponge, but I've never seen sponges lay themselves on the sand bed. Could be something that is hitchiking in with your sea water.

 

[SAAVE853]

I'm not the person that made the original suggestion, but I thought the same thing when I saw the pictures. The water looks really cloudy which could either be from a bacteria bloom (normally seen during cycling), or murky water to start with. If you're using sea water from the ocean, then that could be where the murkiness is coming from.

+1
Just the overall look of the water murkiness says that something is not at 100% and theres only one way of knowing which is to test the water.

Why I recommended a water change is because that will usually improve the water quality (hence maybe get rid of the murkiness).