What is this already?

My tank is 3 days old. I already have something growing on the glass. Like little white algea spots.. I have no fish in there, just crushed coral, and live rock (both of which were in an established tank before being moved to mine)

I took a pic with my cell, because my camera is out of commission at the moment... hopefully you can see what i am talking about. the spots aren't floating, they are attached to the glass.

I also included a full shot of my tank. It is crystal clear but the glare makes it seem like it isn't

ETA: My tank levels are;

nitrate; between 0-5
Nitrite; 0
ammonia; between 0-.25
ph; 8.2
salinity 1.026

 

What do they look like under magnification? Are they a spiral shape?

 

No it's more like stringy. Looks like how metal shavings would look when attracted to a magnet, know what i mean?

 

Probably the start of simple pineapple sponges. Try googling them and see if that matches.

 

I would say yes they do look like the pictures of Pineapple Sponges i've seen (funny because most of the posts referred to this site lol)

are they good? should i scrape it off?

 

They are fine. They run rampant in my sump. Harmless filter feeders. You can scrape them right off the glass.

 

OH That's another question I have. Husband and I were talking last night and were trying to decide if we need a sump... is it essential?

 

No, but they are nice to have. I ran my 40 gallon tank for about a year completely sumpless and it was perfectly fine. But, a sump will allow you to have all of your running gear (heaters, filters, skimmer, etc) out of the tank and hidden from view, plus the added filtering of a fuge is great.
Not essential, but nice to have
What size is your tank?

 

it's a 45

I found a brand new Coralife Skimmer on Craigslist for 40.. is that a good deal?

 

How much would it cost to set a sump up?