looking for ID

[FranktheFixer]

i noticed a pink spec on the tip of an old shell a while back- in a few months it grew to about the size of small pea- seems to have two valves and closes up quick when disturbed. any ideas? just curious. nothng to worry about right?- it's kinda cool when things start appearing in the tank,
usually.

 

[Hawkeye]

that would appear to be a kind of colonial tunicate. Filter feeder.

 

[FranktheFixer]

thanks for the id- do you think it's a nuisance thing, or should i leave it for now?

 

[FranktheFixer]

i didn't find much as it applies to aquariums, but out in the wild it seems colonial tunicates are cited as invasive and smothering, but not sure how fast it does it's thing

 

[Hawkeye]

completely harmless in my opinion. I've had really big tunicates come in on gulf-of-mexico LR. They are filter feeders and if you are not dosing your tank - it's highly unlikely they were be "invasive". I probably shouldn't have used the word "colonial". If they die though - best to remove the critter before it decays.

Anyways - quick and to the point :

(taken from an old article by dr. ron shimek in reefkeeping mag):
Tunicates are often strikingly beautiful animals, but they have been difficult to maintain in many aquaria for the same reason that many other suspension-feeding animals are. As with many of these filter feeders, tunicates are primarily bacteriovores, and in general, our systems simply don't contain bacteria or fine particulate material sufficient to support their growth.

For more information on these animals, literally dozens of web pages are devoted to tunicates, mostly to photographs of them; run searches using: ascidian, tunicate, or urochordata.

 

[FranktheFixer]

thanks