First Post - Plant/Creature ID?

M

Michaels Mom

AC Members
May 29, 2006
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MD, near DC
www.line21.org
This is my first post, so please be gentle! We purchased a complete tank setup a little over a week ago. It came with about 100 pounds of live rock that had been active for several months. We've added some hermit crabs, 2 clownfish, and 3 snails.

The other day when we were looked at the tank, I noticed something that I have no idea what it is. I can't tell if it's a plant or animal. Here is a link to where we have a bunch of pictures:

http://www.line21.org/aquarium/website.htm

I'd really appreciate any help you can give me. I don't know if it's good or bad, if I should be happy to have something living, or scared that I don't know.

Thanks!
Renee
 
Sponges are generally good. The hard part is getting them the right food. You might try a phytoplankton mix, like DTs or Instant Algae, to keep it fed.
 
Yep, they should have DTs. If you find yourself in Silver Spring, Tropical Lagoon has always had it when I've needed it.
 
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From looking at your picturs. It seems you have a major lack of water flow in there.
Do you have anything creating flow other then the return pump from the sump?
 
We just have the return from the sump.. but it seemed to be way too much current for the clownfish. We actually turned the water flow against the back of the tank to bring the current down. What do you suggest? We're TOTAL newbies at this, so we appreciate any advice we can get.
 
Looks like you could be going at this hobby in reverse. I would suggest some reading such as "The Concientious Marine Aquariust" by Robert Fenner and "The New Marine Aquarium" by Michael Paletta, both are considered excellent sources for newbies. Personally I read them over and over before diving in the deep end.

In answer to the flow. You need flow of about 20 to 30 times your tank volume per hour. The clown fish dont mind the flow and will find lower flow areas to rest in fact mine actually surf the flow from my powerheads, quite comical to watch. Movement is important to keep waste in the water so it can be skimmed out by the protein skimmer

and btw,welcome to the forum
 
Thanks Lorna! I've skimmed through two or three of the books my husband got. He's the technical/engineering type, and has done most of the research. I'm the more social one who looks at the pretty fish and does internet research.

With the pump we have, I think we have about 10 times the tank volume, which we had thought was enough. It just seemed that the water flow was really fast.
 
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