question about fungus

[ilovefishes]

hello my name is jill and im fairly new to saltwater aquariums. ive had a saltwater tank for a little under a year but still dont know a lot of things. just recently some very weird looking funguses have been growing in the tank. one is like a white, cotton-y(as opposed to fleshy), fungus that kind of looks like little tubes. and the other thing thats growing on the sides of the tank(although not sure its considered a fungus) are tiny little dots that are spirals. they remind me of little baby snails, although i hope that theyre not! is anyone familiar with these growths or has anyone heard of them or had the same problem? we're not sure what they are or if theyre good or bad, and if theyre bad we'd like to get rid of them. thank you for any help!

 

[Gealcath]

Those are not fungus, they are tiny animals and are the sign of a healthy aquarium (you often get stuff like this form Live Rock)

 

[ilovefishes]

good...

yeah, we have feather dusters on our live rock, but this didnt look anything like what we have in there and didnt know if it was good or not. thanks for your reply

 

[OrionGirl]

Fungus in SW is highly unlikely--I'd suspect that the 'cottony' critters you have are sponges of some kind. The spiral dots are indeed a type of tube worm--they come and go in cycles in my tanks, and are not a problem at all--though they can grow on the glass and impede your view. I just knock them off when they are on the viewing sides, and let them go on the other areas.