White cotton tufts

[VoodooChild]

I just bought my first live rock:D :D :D (about time). I used someone's advice and bought some cheaper stuff to help lower the NO2, which is almost gone. Anyways, there is still a good deal of life on the rocks, and one of the things is these very small white cotton tufts. It looks almost like they were kept in a white blanket, and there's fuzzies left over. Is it possible that it may just be detrius from shipping or such, or are these little things living? Also, there is a bright green semi-circular flat disk attached to a rock. It looks almost like the big white mushrooms you'd find in the woods, only bright green, and extremely small. I checked that good hitchhiking page that Orion's posting, but I couldn't find anything. Thanks alot for any help. And thanks also to everyone who's held my hand up to this point:rolleyes:

[OrionGirl]

The white tufts could be a type of sponge--lots of variety out there, and I haven't seen a really good ID page around.
Have you touched them? What's their texture? Sponges are firm, but flexible. They could be shipping waste, but I guess the better question is--were the rocks wrapped in something?

The other sounds like a discoma anemone--commonly called a mushroom. Very common, fairly hardy, easy to care for. They can be aggressive, so be careful when adding corals to avoid contact. At night, they tend to curl up, then expanding and lifting away from the rock in the daytime.

[VoodooChild]

When I took the rocks home they were in a garbage bag, so nothing there. Before that is uncertain. They do have a firm texture. However, there are 3 now, where as tomorrow there was only two. And I swear at least one, maybe the other, has grown. As far as the anemone goes, should I tip it upwards? Right now it's vertical. Thanks alot again Orion. Ooh, that's right. Like mentioned above, I used them to soak up NO2, though they are really taking care of NO3. Anyways, when I threw the rocks in there, the nitrites were really high, around 7ppm, now they're barely at 3 ppm. I'm sure I lost alot of life, but do you think something could make it? Thanks alot.:)

[OrionGirl]

Yep, sounds like a sponge of some kind. Many are fast growing, but don't live long in higher light levels. As to moving the mushroom, eh, not a big deal. If it looks happy--ie, it's opening up a bit, and such, it should be okay. They are capable of moving themselves, and often reproduce this way. The larger section moves off, and leaves a small chunk of flesh behind. This chunk grows into a new mushroom.

Lots of stuff will likely survive the nitrite spike. Most corals are pretty tough about short term exposures, and can protect themselves. I've seen small corals sloughing off a thick coat of mucus following a tank crash, and be fine a week later. Obviously, it's best to avoid it, but it's not always fatal for corals.

[VoodooChild]

Yep Orion. I checked in Sprung's Invertebrate book. The tufts are Sycon sponges. Thanks for the advice. I just found a tini anemone on the front of the glass too. LR is so cool.